By Jaimie Kaffash
25 January 2010
All cities in the UK should have elected leaders with similar powers to London Mayor Boris Johnson, according to the New Local Government Network.
The think-tank’s report, New model mayors, published today, calls for the introduction of elected mayors with powers to balance their budgets through setting council tax and supplementary business rates. They should also be given powers to appoint police commissioners and chief executives of councils and primary care trusts.
The report supports the idea of open primaries, where individuals of any affiliation can stand as candidates for any party, with the final decision taken by party members. ‘The transparency of the selection process would create greater integrity in the election. Greater openness in mayoral candidate selections could help improve the diversity of candidates selected so that they are more representative of their communities,’ the report says, adding that it would create a ‘higher calibre’ of candidate.
Nirmalee Wanduragala, the NLGN’s council network manager and co-author of the report, told Public Finance that elected mayors would help restore confidence in the political process.
‘This paper looks at the public disenchantment with politics and desire for greater accountability. When you are looking at tightening public budgets, local people need to be engaged in those decisions and this is one step that would help this process,’ she said.
There have been protests about the power of local mayors in cities such as Doncaster and Hartlepool. But Warduragala said: ‘There will be good mayors and bad mayors.’ But, she added, the important point was that: ‘There is greater recognition of who the mayor is – 57% of people know who their mayor is compared with 25% for council leaders.’
The Centre for Cities think-tank, which has long supported the idea of elected mayors, said the report’s financial recommendations did not go far enough. Analyst Kieran Larkin told PF: ‘We would like the full business rate to be relocalised for these city areas so they are given real tax and spend powers.’
He added that leaders with a strong mandate, such as the London mayor, have the ability to ‘almost bully’ ministers. ‘It is more important to have leaders in really big cities that can replicate the leadership of, for example, Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson, and can present the government with lots of demands,’ he said. ‘There can be a similar situation in London or Manchester. His or her ability to say, “this is what I want”, is quite strong.’
But Margaret Pinkney, an independent councillor who led a campaign to oust former Doncaster mayor Martin Winter, told PF the idea ‘eroded’ local democracy.
‘It takes the power away from the councillors themselves. The council don’t scrutinise, they get talked at, and the officers toe the line. I think it would be worse in a big city. In Doncaster, we know what is going on. But in a city it would just be accepted that the mayor did what they did.’
25 January 2010
All cities in the UK should have elected leaders with similar powers to London Mayor Boris Johnson, according to the New Local Government Network.
The think-tank’s report, New model mayors, published today, calls for the introduction of elected mayors with powers to balance their budgets through setting council tax and supplementary business rates. They should also be given powers to appoint police commissioners and chief executives of councils and primary care trusts.
The report supports the idea of open primaries, where individuals of any affiliation can stand as candidates for any party, with the final decision taken by party members. ‘The transparency of the selection process would create greater integrity in the election. Greater openness in mayoral candidate selections could help improve the diversity of candidates selected so that they are more representative of their communities,’ the report says, adding that it would create a ‘higher calibre’ of candidate.
Nirmalee Wanduragala, the NLGN’s council network manager and co-author of the report, told Public Finance that elected mayors would help restore confidence in the political process.
‘This paper looks at the public disenchantment with politics and desire for greater accountability. When you are looking at tightening public budgets, local people need to be engaged in those decisions and this is one step that would help this process,’ she said.
There have been protests about the power of local mayors in cities such as Doncaster and Hartlepool. But Warduragala said: ‘There will be good mayors and bad mayors.’ But, she added, the important point was that: ‘There is greater recognition of who the mayor is – 57% of people know who their mayor is compared with 25% for council leaders.’
The Centre for Cities think-tank, which has long supported the idea of elected mayors, said the report’s financial recommendations did not go far enough. Analyst Kieran Larkin told PF: ‘We would like the full business rate to be relocalised for these city areas so they are given real tax and spend powers.’
He added that leaders with a strong mandate, such as the London mayor, have the ability to ‘almost bully’ ministers. ‘It is more important to have leaders in really big cities that can replicate the leadership of, for example, Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson, and can present the government with lots of demands,’ he said. ‘There can be a similar situation in London or Manchester. His or her ability to say, “this is what I want”, is quite strong.’
But Margaret Pinkney, an independent councillor who led a campaign to oust former Doncaster mayor Martin Winter, told PF the idea ‘eroded’ local democracy.
‘It takes the power away from the councillors themselves. The council don’t scrutinise, they get talked at, and the officers toe the line. I think it would be worse in a big city. In Doncaster, we know what is going on. But in a city it would just be accepted that the mayor did what they did.’
