Labour created the mayor of London more than a decade ago, but failed to deliver English devolution outside the capital. An excessive reliance on targets left Labour looking top-down and distant. The rejection of directly elected regional government in 2004 allowed critics to say that regional development agencies were unaccountable. Attempts at local devolution were too incremental and too technocratic. The Tories became the party of decentralisation, and the Liberal Democrats took control of a host of English cities, including Sheffield, Newcastle and Hull.
Mayors are a touchy subject for Labour. Most members and councillors prefer the existing system of indirectly elected city leaders. Ed Miliband won’t have a very good impression of mayors: in his Doncaster constituency the first one resigned in disgrace; the second has been placed on special measures.
One common objection to mayors is that they are mavericks rather than ‘proper’ politicians. Well, maverick personalities and proper politicians are not mutually exclusive. London has been run by two mavericks since 2000, and most people now agree the London mayoralty is a good idea.
Labour’s manifesto included a cautious nudge towards more mayors, with plans only for referendums on directly elected mayors in conurbations like Greater Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham. Miliband wrote the manifesto, and couldn’t be persuaded to go any further.
But the coalition now plans to create a new wave of directly elected mayors in the 12 largest English cities outside London. These mayors could be in place as soon as 2012.
Labour should go further and propose directly elected ‘metro mayors’ with real tax-and-spend powers. That means a mayor for Greater Manchester – not just Manchester city council – with control over business rates and transport, housing and skills funding.
The case for directly elected metro mayors is strong. They would attract much better candidates and higher turnouts than regular local elections – 45 per cent of Londoners voted in the 2008 mayoral election, much more than normal local elections. Armed with a direct personal mandate, they would directly engage millions of voters and provide strong leadership, accountability and strategic vision. And armed with real financial powers, they would be able to drive their city’s recovery locally.
City mayors are now a big opportunity for Labour. They could give Labour a number of high-profile wins outside of parliament, and help the party rebuild its local base.
The party should prioritise the next wave of mayors in the biggest metropolitan areas outside London – Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Leeds city-region and Greater Birmingham. And give them real financial powers, including direct control over housing, transport and skills funding, and the ability to raise revenues locally, including the whole of the business rate.
If mayors are good enough for London, why can’t Greater Manchester and Greater Birmingham have their own mayor too?
I can’t for the life of me think why anyone wants another level of Government – Barely anyone votes in local elections unless they’re at the same time as other elections anyway. Why introduce another variable ? Why also would anyone in England want devolution. Last time I looked Westminster is in England. Personally I don’t see the point of develotion for Scotland and Wales either – but hey I’m English. To me the more branches of Government there are the more the chance of there being a lottery of services and legislation – I want to have the same opportunities wherever I live, and I want to live wherever I want. The original election of Ken Livingston to London Mayor was a major embarrassment for Labour, and his current selection and membership of the National Exec, whilst openly backing non-party members in Tower Hamlets is yet another – why would we want to support moves which increase the likelihood of random results which no one really cares about, but which the tabloids have a field day with ?
One assumes that these 12 have been asked whether they want a directly elected mayor. They have, haven’t they? Surely the sight of BoJo in London is enough to encourage everyone to say: “We want one of those.”? If Hartlepool can elect a monkey then we in London are quite capable of electing an ass and go one better on that and elect a silly ass. You have been warned and, hey, besides, what’s wrong with an elected dictator?
Complete rubbish. We fight to get councillors elected in a dozen councils all over Manchester and you propose a single election which over-rides all this, and gets the Manchster United mascot elected. We had Metropolitan County Councils to co-ordinate transport, etc over city regions, and these got abolshed. Labour has supported chopping County Councils into little unitary councils. We are going to have to live with co-ordinating between these to get sub-regional views. I have been through to local government re-organisations in Cheshire as an employee, and it is devestating to staff morale and service delivery. An elected dictator for every major city would be a disaster.
At present we have an unelected, undemocratic all powerful Council Leader where decisions are made in a meeting with a few councillors in a Cabinet who have been appointed there by the unelected Council Leader. The directly elected Mayor is the Council Leader voted for by all the electorate in a city, county council or borough council. The directly elected Mayor is exactly the same legal definition as a Council Leader, only that we, the voting public, decide who we want. Councils have had a decade to bring this full democracy, full voting rights for a directly elected Mayor instead of the unelected Council Leader, for a decade since the Local Government Act 2000 and 2007. All council consultations and normal petitions have no force of law and can be politely ignored. The national government have had the right since 2000 to do the referendums direct, and the Councils have had the right for that decade to bring about petitions which have the force of law and yes referendums to bring about democracy. My website has information and details about my one lone voice in the whole of Staffordshire, as an individual voter in Stafford Borough, to bring about 5% of the electorate in that Borough, as petition signatures to gain a referendum, to gain a yes majority to bring about the legally binding result. Then candidates can compete for our vote to be the directly elected Mayor. My website is: http://www.staffordshire-vote-english.info The information might be useful to each and every city, county council and borough council in England’s counties, for those who want to start their own petition.