More elected mayors outside London

With the Ken v Boris race moving towards its final week, I'm detecting increasing support for more elected mayors outside of London. First, Jonathan Freedland earlier this month compared the mounting public interest in the London campaign with the rather less thrilling local government scene elsewhere: "When was the last time the politicians of Manchester or Birmingham or Newcastle stirred such excitement?"

Then Anatole Kaletsky last week bemoaned "Britain's uniquely overcentralised system of government". He's quite right about that - and the need for more powerful city leaders. But he was wrong to call the London election "a dull Punch and Judy show". Far from it - it's shaping up to be the most engaging local election in years. I bet turnout this time will be better than in 2004 (when it was just 37%), and higher than in most other big cities.

And now Simon Jenkins has restated his support for more elected mayors outside London. ("Every city needs a Ken v Boris show - it brings local politics back to life"). He says this campaign is "unprecedented", with huge amounts of media coverage and packed-out public hustings. And London has secured clear benefits from having an elected mayor - including massive central government subsidies for its buses, Crossrail and the Olympics. And yet other big cities like Birmingham and Manchester "have denied themselves mayors...and been rewarded with a decline in democracy and more central and regional control".

It's time for some other big cities outside London to go for the mayoral model. That would increase turnout and unlock new powers for those big cities. Last summer, Gordon Brown promised a new constitutional settlement for local government - but not much has happened. He could revive his position by reviving local government - with new powers for big cities like Greater Manchester and Birmingham.

The elected mayor model will get another boost next week, if turnout is higher in London - whether Ken or Boris wins. If it's Ken, then he will no doubt make continued expansive use of another direct mandate. If it's Boris, then the Tories will want to make maximum use of their most powerful platform in over a decade. Either way, other city leaders will look on and wonder: what about me?

Comments

[John Charlesworth]

I see the Institute for Public Policy Research is advocating this. http://www.ippr.org.uk/

[Michael Taylor]

I don't think it necessarily follows that a well contested election means other urban centres need a mayor. Manchester has achieved all that it has with a powerful chief executive's office. Other cities would love to have a Howard Bernstein, but no amount of legislation or changes to the LGA would create the conditions for a forward looking, entrepreneurial chief executive that could attract inward investment and win bids for casinos, transport funds and party conferences. That comes from leadership.

Would we all be saying the mayoral system is so good if it was Livingstone v Norris again?

[Dermot Finch]

Thanks for your comment, Michael. I agree that Howard has done a great job in Manchester, alongside the elected leader Richard Leese (who's a member of our Board).

But chief executives like Howard are not elected, and not directly accountable to the people of Manchester. Our cities need strong, elected leaders - as well as strong, effective chief executives. Manchester has both. But not every city is so lucky.

I'm not proposing that Manchester City Council goes for an elected mayor on its own. The Centre for Cities would rather see an elected mayor for all of Greater Manchester - that would provide strong, visible and clear leadership across a large urban area; and help unlock sizeable amounts of devolved funding for Greater Manchester, for things like transport.

The well-contested election in London will I'm sure result in a bigger turnout this year, compared to the 37% turnout in 2004. At a time when national politicians are seeking to re-engage with voters, I reckon this will make the elected mayoral model more attractive.