It’s official: the Government has today confirmed that no new directly elected city mayors will be created.
That means Plymouth won’t get a new city mayor because the Government is discontinuing this model of local council governance. The English Devolution Bill that Parliament will consider will set this out in law and today Ministers confirmed they’re pausing changes to local government that create new city mayors to save taxpayers money. All councils in England will have a leader and cabinet system – exactly the system Plymouth already has.
This announcement should come as no surprise. I’ve been clear we wouldn’t be getting a city mayor as Ministers are scrapping this model of governance.
I even told Angus Forbes, the leader of the mayoral campaign, that this was coming before he launched his campaign. He chose to ignore this advice.
This whole episode has been a huge waste of money. The referendum is costing taxpayers in Plymouth £410,000. That is money that should be spent on filling potholes or looking after kids in care.
What an utter waste of time, energy and money the whole debacle has been. Those running the Yes campaign knew that Government was not creating new city mayors, they could read it themselves in the English devolution white paper and I confirmed it time and time again.
Sadly, we have to still have this pointless referendum. I am still voting No on 17 July. But what an utter waste of money this whole vanity project has been. Plymouth deserves better.