The government has missed a vital opportunity to convince voters that elected mayors could make a difference by not spelling out in advance the powers that they would have
The referenda results today were overwhelmingly against elected mayors with, currently, eight out of ten cities saying ‘no’. Manchester, Coventry, Nottingham and Bradford rejected this model of city leadership this morning, followed by Newcastle, Sheffield, Wakefield and Birmingham this afternoon.
Bristol is the one city to vote for a mayor, while we await the result in Leeds later tonight. An eleventh city, Doncaster, voted to retain its current mayoral system.
Birmingham had been the city that was most widely expected to vote ‘yes’, with several prominent politicians declaring their interest in standing. Yet they decided against, with 57.8% voting no, to 42.2% yes.
Bristol had seen a lot of initial opposition to mayors. It was also highlighted in our Big Shot or Long Shot? report for having seven council leaders since 2000 – a figure that rose to eight last week with the resignation of Cllr Barbara Janke. The city often ranks top of the Core Cities in our annual Cities Outlook when it comes to Gross Value Added and jobs. That means there's a real opportunity for an elected mayor to push the city forward and onto a global stage.
The spotlight will quickly turn to picking the right person for the job in November, as well as to discussions about what a mayor should focus on. Bristol will be looking to Liverpool, the only city to go for a mayor without a referendum, to demonstrate the difference an elected mayor can make.
While there'll be different reasons for the ‘no’ vote in the eight cities, by not nailing its colours to the mast and spelling out the powers that the new mayors would have, the government has missed a vital opportunity to convince voters that mayors could make a difference, particularly at a time of more general political disillusionment.
For the cities that voted no, the focus will be on City Deals and taking actions to support the local economy. The government must stay committed to supporting the prosperity of cities regardless of which way they voted.
While David Cameron warned that the mayoral referenda were a choice between joining the race or falling behind, it was reassuring to hear Nick Clegg’s statement that the further devolution of powers would not be contingent upon cities voting yes. Eric Pickles' recognition last night that strong leadership will look different across the cities and that the priority must be supporting cities to grow to their full economic potential is also welcome.
In the longer run, we would like to see leadership at a city region level – ideally ‘Metro Mayors’, especially for England’s largest cities. The call by Sir Richard Leese, the leader of Manchester City Council, for a proper conversation on a Mayor for Greater Manchester recognises this.
But Minister for Cities Greg Clark’s acknowledgement of this yesterday was too late to make a difference this time round. And if the UK is to have more mayors or metro mayors, then the government has to set out very clearly why they would make a difference and what powers they would come with, moving beyond more symbolic gestures such as the Cabinet of Mayors – otherwise it will be the same old story in any future referenda.
The only city now left to declare is Leeds. With that singular chance of another ‘yes’, it certainly looks like the Cabinet of Mayors will be a pretty cosy meeting.
Alexandra Jones is the chief executive of Centre for Cities
