LORD HESELTINE clashed with David Cameron yesterday when he said Liverpool must have a powerful mayor as part of the fightback following last week’s riots.

The former Cabinet minister – who led an inquiry into the 1981 Toxteth riot – called for government promises to devolve real power to local leaders to be turned “from a slogan into reality”. And he said a well-known, Boris Johnson-style mayor was vital in achieving that, adding: “People don’t realise that the local leaders matter in these communities.”

The comments came as Mr Cameron suddenly ditched a reference to introducing “executive mayors in our 12 biggest cities” from a keynote speech yesterday.

A referendum is still planned next May, but the idea of an executive mayor – who would replace the existing chief executive, by merging the roles – was quietly ditched in June.

Furthermore, plans to unveil a swathe of extra powers have also been abandoned, suggesting the new mayors will be no more powerful than existing council leaders.

Yesterday, Mr Cameron warned against Whitehall diktats that “denied local people any real kind of say over what goes on where they live”. But the published text of his speech read: “This has got to change. That’s why we want executive mayors in our 12 biggest cities, because strong civic leadership can make a real difference in creating that sense of belonging.”