Government Confirms City Mayors to be Scrapped – Time to Focus on Plymouth’s Real Priorities.
The government has confirmed it is committed to scrapping city mayors as part of forthcoming English Devolution legislation.
In a Parliamentary Question response to Rebecca Smith MP on 10 June 2025, the Local Government Minister, Jim McMahon MP, said that the government “will discontinue the individual local authority devolution model in its mayoral form”.
This echoes the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, which set out:
“We will therefore discontinue the individual Local Authority devolution model in its mayoral form.”
City mayors are being discontinued in favour of metro mayors with wider, regional powers and accountability. Metro mayors cover larger areas, with real powers and funding over transport, housing, planning, skills and more.
Luke Pollard, MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said:
“The Government has again confirmed that city mayors, the type of mayor on offer in the referendum, are being scrapped. This repeats the pledge in the Devolution White Paper.
“I told Angus Forbes, the leader of the mayoral campaign, about this before he launched his referendum campaign. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise to him.
“People in Plymouth deserve honesty about what’s on the table. A city mayor would be expensive and short lived. It would be waste of money and energy, and that’s why I’ll be voting ‘No’ to a city mayor on 17 July.”
Fred Thomas, MP for Plymouth Moor View, said:
“The government has been clear, yet again, that they are scrapping city mayors and I am surprised that there still appears to be so much confusion from the Mayor for Plymouth Campaign.
“We have made this clear from the start.
“Voting for a mayor would be an enormous waste of time and money, and I would urge people to vote no on July 17th.”