THE flagging campaign for an elected Liverpool mayor will receive a major shot in the arm tomorrow when plans are unveiled to make it easier to collect signatures for a referendum.

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears will propose allowing petitions to be signed online, instead of forcing campaigners to gather names on a sheet of paper.

The move – part of wide-ranging moves to introduce “petition power” to improve public services – is designed to increase the number of elected mayors in UK cities. There are currently just 13.

Ms Blears, who was impres-sed by the high turnout triggered by the contest that elected Boris Johnson in Lon-don, hopes online petitions will persuade many more people to vote for change.

She believes elected mayors are more accountable and vis-ible, although many coun-cillors oppose them as “celebrities”, elected for their fame rather than their skills.

Last night, Liam Fogarty, the chairman of the Mayor for Liverpool campaign, agreed that the online change would “get us fired up to give the people of Liverpool the referendum they deserve”.

In nearly two years, the campaign has collected only around 11,000 of the 17,100 signatures it requires to force a vote – equivalent to 5% of the voting public.