At the west Midlands regional conference at the weekend I was given a leaflet in support of an elected mayor for Birmingham.
For a long time I have refrained from commenting on the affairs of Birmingham, but as the Boundary Commission seems determined to create a cross-border constituency, I feel I have to contribute to the debate.
Andrew Adonis and Gisela Stuart have both written how bringing in a mayor would simplistically and dramatically transform Birmingham. The arguments they cite don’t really stand this up. Gisela says that for the Victorians, Birmingham was ‘quite simply the best-governed city in the world’. But the reality is it didn’t have a directly elected Mayor. Joseph Chamberlain was elected as a councillor for St Pauls Ward and then his fellow councillors elected him mayor, which was effectively the leader of the council.
The real reason he was able to be so successful was he controlled the political machine. That is what happened with a number of previous Labour leaders. Dick Knowles didn’t need to be directly elected in order to have huge influence and Labour and Conservative leaders alike were able to dramatically transform Birmingham’s fortunes, creating the National Exhibition Centre, the NIA Complex and the Convention Centre.
It’s true that Manchester has been outstripping Birmingham to the detriment of not only the city, but also the surrounding conurbation, but again Manchester didn’t need to have a directly elected mayor as it had an outstanding chief executive working with effective Labour leaders.
Gisela then makes a comparison with London and talks about Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson. They are mouthpieces for London, but they don’t run most of its services. Earlier in her article she talks about the housing department and education system in Birmingham, but the London mayor and the GLA have no responsibility for education or housing in London or indeed social services. These are all the responsibility of the London boroughs; these were stripped away from the GLC decades ago. What those who are currently politically engaged in Birmingham should be doing is looking at the political obstacles to the effective management of Birmingham and not focusing on arcane constitutional debates.
We have had quite enough of that earlier this year with the referendum. Hopefully the public will adopt the same response in the referendum for a mayor next May ‘Vote Labour Vote No.’
John Spellar is MP for Warley
Photo: Pavel Paniczko
Elected Mayors seem to be part of the trend towards personality politics. In London you meet people who vote for Boris Johnson because they find him funny even when his policies harm them.
Those who want a mayor in Birmingham should look at the demographics and consider whether theyy want to replicate the result of Tower Hamlets.
Comments on ‘Ken can win ‘ have been closed by Progress. Why is this?
Ken willnot win and doe snot deserve to as he was not democratically selected.
Dennis Skinner was right adn voted against his readmission to Labour. Ken only represents the Ken Livingstone Party and it is not inthe interests of progressives to havea mayor who has Lee Jasper as an adviser.
Labour has been very foolish to select him. He is guaranteed to lose.
Just watched the last vestige of democracy disappear in Barking and Dagenham as community groups that helped us in the elections have been betrayed. Half of the Labour group did not bother to attend their last meeting as they know they are powerless and redundant whilst the old guard who helped the BNP in still hold sway and with it a complete contempt for the public. The Leader today announced committees are irrelevant and that his views alone mattered, at a public meeting before the Chief Executive could stop him after a member of the public asked by a referred decision by committee back to the Executive.
CHPs finished. No more community groups that can engage the Council and tonight all Community groups effectively told they are on their own and that the council would not help them by facilitating them into aiding one another.
At the public consultation minimal information was given to residents and they were unable to really offer alternatives in an informed intelligent manner.
A sad day for the Labour Party. I am glad I have gone Independent though i am still recruiting new members in the hopes they can change the future.
Leaders with too much power are bad and history shows us this again and again….
Excellent article John. We had the misfortune of having two Elected Mayors – one Independent and one Labour – in Stoke-on-Trent, but fortunately were able to realise the error of our ways and vote in a second referendum to abolish the position. They do nothing but divide the Council (including the pro and anti within the Labour Group), the wider Party membership, and the public. They make the role of a backbench Councillor even more redundant than it is now, reducing enthusiasm, candidate recruitment and retention and voter turnout, as in many cases an Elected Mayor is elected for a four year term whilst the Council is elected by one-thirds every three years out of four. Any area, from Birmingham downwards, that has a referendum for an Elected Mayor foisted upon them should vote no without hesitation.