Conservative leader David Cameron has renewed his call for directly-elected mayors to take control of councils, and wants to give them extra powers to head police authorities. He said he wanted to see more directly-elected mayors and suggested police authorities could be governed by an elected mayor, or even a police commissioner, voted in at the polls. Speaking before the Conservatives' spring forum in Nottingham last week, Mr Cameron said the final decision on elected mayors had to rest with local people, but he personally believed they were good for communities. And he added that a high-profile leader of a police authority should also be elected by the people it represented, instead of being peppered with councillors he believed few of the electorate had heard of. ‘The British people know we need reform of the police force,' he said. ‘We must have greater accountability. People need to know there is someone holding the police to account. Most people have never heard of the police authority and do not know who sits on it. ‘An elected mayor would make the difference,' he said. ‘It is up to local people to decide.'
