One Mayor ‘should rule 11 areas’

The Government has put forward proposals for elected mayors which could result in Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield all having a mayor each.

But Andrew Carter, director at Centre for Cities, told a meeting of business leaders last night that a single “metro mayor” for the whole region would be the best driver for economic growth.

“We have moved to a service led economy and that favours big places,” he said. “Leeds is the economic driver for this region, and Bradford has to figure out how to benefit, if it goes into competition, it will get low growth.”

Mr Carter said a mayor would never guarantee success, but could provide the catalyst to bring in investment.

Mark Goldstone, of the Leeds Chamber of Commerce, said: “An elected mayor could potentially benefit Leeds as it would overcome some of the administrative and political barriers to economic development.

“However there appears to have been little consideration as to how elected mayors would fit into the geography of the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership. Under the current proposals, the city region LEP could potentially have three different mayors in Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield, with three potentially contrasting agendas.”