End mayoral vote ‘bullying’

They will not work if the Government threatens to withdraw future funding from the likes of Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and Wakefield if voters do not back this plan in May’s referenda on the issue.

Yet this is precisely what will happen if the Government’s coercion remains unchecked – coercion symptomatic of Ministers failing to make a convincing case for change.

Why should any of these four Yorkshire cities, each with great economic and social challenges that have region-wide repercussions, be punished because voters do not want another tier of bureaucracy added to an increasingly fragmented system of local government? It is not how democracy or localism should work in action.

That Doncaster residents should coincidentially decide in May whether to retain their elected mayor after a decade of acrimony since the post’s introduction is another reminder that Ministers should be respectful of public opinion.

And just because Liverpool is hailed as a benchmark for the future because its city leadership chose not to have a mayoral referendum, thereby circumventing the risk of a “no” vote, does not justify Yorkshire cities being penalised for putting the issue to the democratic will of the people – as originally requested by Ministers.

The Government’s threats – described as “bullying” by some local council leaders and with justification – also masks another key issue, a dearth of suitable individuals willing to stand for election.

As witnessed with police commissioners, the likelihood that successful candidates will have to be affiliated to a political party means the role’s appeal will almost certainly be restricted to ex-MPs or existing council leaders to help boost their retirement coffers.

It will exclude successful business leaders who, frankly, have not got the time to study the intricacies and vagaries of local councils before deciding whether to stand for election. This is already being witnessed with local enterprise partnerships and it will be the same with elected mayors because of the insistence of Minister to apply “a one size fits all” approach to the whole country. Not every city has individuals as charismatic as London’s Boris Johnson.