I recently wrote on the case for an elected mayor for Birmingham, since then the localism act has received royal assent which has confirmed the mayoral referendum for Birmingham and ten other cities in May 2012.

Now I know there is a great debate about the respective localising measures or otherwise in the act! But giving England’s great cities the opportunity to have greater self-governing responsibilities with a strong, visible and (critically) accountable leader is a massive opportunity for Birmingham and the other cities to get a grip on themselves and their future success.

I am truly astonished that this progressive policy is being argued against by a Labour MP from neighbouring Warley and also by a Labour MP from south Birmingham in partnership with the city’s sole Lib Dem MP! Maintaining the status quo is not immediately the worst option for everything but in this case it really is the antithesis of forward-looking city governance.

It was a Labour government that produced real devolution across parts of Great Britain. The result in London, Wales and Scotland is continued demand for further devolution of power to enable even greater local responsibility, accountability and decision-making.

In Birmingham our Yes campaign is starting to build up momentum. By contrast the No campaign has been launched under the heading No to a Power Freak. We have the good fortune of being focused on a positive campaign informing Brummies of the benefits an elected mayor will bring to our city – real democratic accountability, a mandate to lead and be the visible figurehead of the city along with more transparent and localised decision-making.

By contrast the No campaign are arguing that an elected mayor would be somehow akin to an elected dictator. Once elected we as a city will allegedly be saddled with this elected dictator for four years who will have no incentive to do anything in their term of office. A truly cynical and frustratingly negative view of the world indeed! But also unjustified as the people will have the power to trigger local referenda on key issues and can ultimately hold a visible and democratically-accountable mayor to account using soft power as well as the threat of being booted out at the ballot box.

But then they launch into their huge paradox. We should vote No to this Power Freak because they actually won’t have any additional powers and this is all a mythical argument from those who want a Yes vote. The truth is that the Yes campaign and many others are already lobbying for additional powers to be granted to an elected mayor if Birmingham votes Yes. The minister for cities, Greg Clark MP, has responded by confirming that elected mayors will gain those additional powers they ask for and that can demonstrably improve city governance and success. There is also a live public consultation soliciting views on areas that should potentially be devolved to elected city mayors.

The first (elected) mayor of Birmingham will have the opportunity to make the case to government for having significant additional powers handed over to them. They can then have real devolved power to make change at long last happen on the ground in Birmingham. Such additional powers must include further responsibility for transport, planning, regeneration, housing and the most critical of all is power to raise finance locally in order to make real change that can support our communities and businesses across the whole city by turning ideas into action.

The first mayor must (and surely will) be given the opportunity to demonstrate successful local decision-making, accountability and delivery. But would we be better off just sticking with what we know? Is it the personalities that have failed the city or is it systemic failure? London is thriving with its governance model; Birmingham can develop its own brand of city governance with its own powers which will give us the ability to determine our future. With people you can only hope for the best but Birmingham is so much bigger than one power freak, or one Jo Chamberlain, or indeed one Councillor Mike Whitby. And therein lies the key point: the system should give the representative of the people opportunities rather than constraints. An elected mayor is our opportunity to leave behind the current system and to start afresh – and we need that now more than ever.

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Alex Burrows is head of strategy at Centro (the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority) and member of Sutton Coldfield CLP. He writes here in a personal capacity.

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