Commission publishes report on the role of directly elected Mayors

As residents of ten English cities will vote on whether to adopt directly elected mayors in referendums being held on May 3, the Commission report says that Mayoral powers should not be limited by a city’s boundaries but should cover an entire economic area. The report states: “Mayors are more likely to be effective, both in supporting the economy and making effective decisions for local citizens, if they are responsible for functioning economic areas”

“There is ‘no point’ in the mayors running anything less than a boundary-spanning region that can foster economic growth. Government should return to considering extending to city region/metro mayors where this is appropriate for local areas at the earliest opportunity.”

It also warned against a one-size-fits-all mayoral model, called for more clarity on powers, predicted that the issue of mayoral pay could quickly become a political minefield and recommended a recall process that would allow dysfunctional mayors to be removed from office.

The commission, which was established last year, interviewed 42 mayors, staff and senior council figures in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the US. Professor Keith Grint, research director at the commission, said: “Ultimately, directly elected mayors may be a way of answering the most important question at the heart of governance: what is the purpose of politics? If politics is about how we mediate our individual and collective conflicts then we had better pay some attention to reinvigorating the body-politic: politics is too important to be left to politicians.”

Residents of Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Wakefield, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Newcastle, Nottingham and Coventry will vote in referendums on May 3, when Liverpool will elect its first mayor.

For more information
www2.warwick.ac.uk/research/electedmayors