How did we get a directly elected Mayor?
Local Government Act 2000
New arrangements for local councils were introduced by the Local Government Act 2000. All councils had to change to an executive model where a small group of councillors forms the “cabinet” or “executive” that makes all decisions. The Act also introduced the option of a directly elected Mayor with real powers.
A directly elected Mayoral system can only be introduced or abandoned by referendum of local electors. There have been 35 referendums in the UK but only 12 have resulted in favour of a directly elected Mayor
Lewisham Referendum
The referendum in Lewisham was held on 18th October 2001 by postal vote. The “Yes” vote was 16,822 (51%) and the “No” vote was 15,914 (49%). With turnout of only 18% this means that only 9.2% of electors actually voted in favour of introducing the new system.
The result was controversial with the Electoral Commission noting that “the number of ballot papers which could not be included in the count because of invalid declarations was greater than the difference between the yes and no vote.”
What are the Mayor’s powers?
The current situation
A directly elected Mayor appoints a cabinet of up to 9 councillors, but is not required to include members of different parties or to delegate any power to cabinet members. The Mayor only needs the support of 1/3 of the elected councillors (18 out of 54 in Lewisham) to approve the annual budget and policy framework documents.
The Mayor can make almost all other decisions without needing to win a vote of councillors or the cabinet. Elected councillors have no authority other than to scrutinise the Mayor’s decisions and can only recommend that any decision be reconsidered
The alternative?
The alternative to the directly elected Mayoral system is known as the “Leader and Cabinet” system and this is used by most councils. In this system we elect the councillors and they elect the “Leader” of the council. The cabinet is then chosen either by the Leader or by the councillors. In such councils the Mayor is a traditional, ceremonial, non-political role where the Mayor has no real powers.
How do we get rid of our directly elected Mayor?
Getting a new referendum?
The Bring Back Democracy Campaign is calling for a new referendum to allow local people to decide whether to keep the directly elected Mayor or change to the Leader and Cabinet system. The Local Government Act 2000 says that if 5% of electors sign a petition calling for a directly elected Mayor to be introduced the council must hold a referendum on the issue
The bad news is that the Local Government Act and later statutes prevent electors from calling for a referendum to abandon the directly elected Mayoral system. The good news is that another statute allows councils to hold a referendum to change the system if they think public opinion is in favour.
Our plans
We will hand the petition to Lewisham Council asking them to organise a new referendum. We will also hand a copy of the petition to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Ruth Kelly) asking her to change the law so that a petition of local electors can force a new referendum.
Sign Petition Online
Please enter your email address below and press the send button. We will then send you an email with instructions on how to sign the petition online.
How To Help
There are several ways to help the campaign. The most important is to publicise this website and to ask your friends and family to sign the petition online. For other ways to help, visit the How To Help page.