Directly Elected Mayors
The Government is proposing to encourage the establishment of more elected mayoralities. Communities & Local Government Minister Hazel Blears proposes making it easier to hold Referenda on the idea by reducing the proportion of electors required to petition one (from 5% to 3 or 2%) and to enable referenda to be held again after less than 10 years if a proposal is unsuccessful. Elected Mayors are generally given what we Liberals would regard as excessive executive power to the dilution of accountability to locally elected Council members. But to some people Blears' ideas will look like an extension of democracy. I believe we as liberals must argue against these ideas, what do other Liberals think?

I hope that Liberal Party will oppose the moves towards directly-elected Mayors, especially under our unfair electoral system. Local Government already suffers from the emasculating effects of the cabinet system that makes debate irrelevant , private sector interference that ignores community priorities in favour of profiteering , the stifling of legitimate comment by the 'Standards' quango and the iniquitous gagging of local Councillors in the local planning process that effectively prevents elected representatives from standing up for their community against inappropriate planning applications. The last thing we need is the further erosion of local democracy by concentrating executive power in the hands of a single person , however good or talented they may or may not be.

I've never been certain what if any benefit having a directly elected mayor brings...well, other than the chance to elect H'Angus the Monkey. So in general I'd be against a directly elected mayor because I don't see the point.