Tories promise Liverpool mayoral vote

Feb 17 2009 Liverpool Daily Post

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LIVERPOOL will be forced to hold a referendum to decide if it should be run by a directly-elected mayor within one year of a Conservative government taking power, the party will say today.

Residents will take part in a dramatic mass vote in England’s 12 biggest cities, in a bid to revive flagging interest in mayors after the exciting contest that elected Boris Johnson in London.

The Tories – who will today unveil wide-ranging plans to deliver power from Whitehall to town halls – believe elected mayors could help England’s big cities drag themselves out of recession.

They will also hope for a “Boris Bounce” on the back of the London triumph that could see Conservative mayors in the likes of Liverpool – despite the absence of Tory councillors.

David Cameron’s party is frustrated that, although all towns and cities have had the power to stage a mayoral referendum for a decade, few have in practice. There are currently just 12 elected mayors.

In Liverpool, the Liberal Democrat administration is fiercely opposed to the idea and attempts by campaigners to collect the necessary 17,000 signatures to trigger a poll have stalled.

Speaking to the Daily Post ahead of unveiling today’s local government policy paper, Tory spokeswoman Caroline Spelman said: “It is time to give other cities the opportunity that London has enjoyed.

“We think elected mayors could make a significant difference to Britain’s largest cities and can help Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham come up the economic league table, compared to their counterparts in Europe.

“It could be that people in Liverpool will say ‘Thanks very much, but we believe we are very well run as we are’ – and that would be fine. It would be up to them whether to have a mayor.”

Mrs Spelman said the 12 simultaneous polls – or more, if other cities opt to join in – would be held on the same day as local elections, probably the May after a Tory victory.

At the same time, Lord Heseltine – the one-time “Minister for Merseyside” under Margaret Thatcher – will lead an inquiry into whether mayors should be given further powers, along the lines of London.