Do we need an Elected Mayor in Bristol?
July 18, 2008 Posted by Kevin in : Bristol , trackbackSince the introduction of the Local Government Act in 2000 districts across England and Wales have had the option of directly electing their Mayor. Whilst traditional Mayorships have been largely ceremonial positions, Elected Mayors assume a far more active political role, with powers similar to those of the Councils executive committee.
A few of the early Elected Mayors created something of a media sensation; Hartlepool memorably voted in H’Angus the Monkey and Middlesbrough elected Ray “Robocop” Mallon, a famously hardline ex-police chief.
Currently there are thirteen directly elected Mayors in England, including the Mayor of London Boris Johnson. Thirty five Local Authorities in total have held a referendum to establish the publics appetite for a directly elected mayor. So far one third of these have been successful. A campaign has just been started to gather the support for holding just such a referendum in Bristol. There are strong views and compelling arguments for and against, so which way should Bristol go?
A History of the Mayors of Bristol
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I think that the debate about whether or not we need an elected mayor for Bristol needs to be had - whatever the outcome. If we work out we don't need one and that all we need to do is work better in partnership together, so be it. But if there really is a case for an elected mayor, we'd be mad to ignore it. We'll never know until we take it seriously
The debate in respect of an elected mayor also needs to take place within the context of how local government is administered generally in Bristol, particularly as the current system, where one-third of councillors are up for re-election every year, has resulted in stagnation and lack of accountability.
There has been some serious consideration previously.
In 2003, the council established an independent Democracy Commission, which discussed the issue of elected mayors, amongst other constitutional matters, more info here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/3007047.stm
I attended a few Democracy Commission events. Its Chair Paul Burton was definitely in favour of an elected mayor as was Andrew Kelly if I recall correctly. Strangely it was the party politicians who were all consistently against the idea.
The final report was well and truly buried too and nothing's changed in terms of governance in Bristol since 2002.