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Following an article in The MJ on the downside of directly-elected mayors, Bedford BC's mayor, Frank Branston, defends his model of leadership. The article by George Jones and John Stewart (The MJ, 5 March) about directly-elected mayors is one-sided and displays tunnel-vision. There are a number of reasons why there have been few successful referenda. For example, getting 5% of voters to sign up to a petition is not an easy feat. In Bedford, it meant we had to produce almost 6,000 valid names and addresses of voters in a year. We had the support of a local newspaper but that only gave us a few hundred signatures. Street sessions produced a large number of invalid signatures from people living outside the borough. Knocking on doors produced a 90% positive response, but only after the case for a referendum had been carefully explained. This meant a two-hour door-knocking session produced about 22 signatures; meaning a target of 5,600 signatures required 254 man-hours. While we initially had plenty of helpers most dropped out after two or three sessions. Eventually we got our 5,600 signatures with a couple of weeks to spare. The council went through the list with a fine-toothed comb and rejected about 8 per cent. They conceded the referendum knowing we could make up the deficit in the time left. The council's part in the issue was open to considerable question. In an executive meeting a few days before Christmas the executive had rejected the idea of a referendum without any public consultation. Although the council was supposed to maintain neutrality, they allowed anti-elected mayor stunts to take place in the town hall. They sought the views of the citizens' panel (less than a thousand names) and proclaimed it had come out against a directly-elected mayor, although our request to check their names and addresses was refused. The anti-referendum propaganda was marked by many fanciful claims about the cost of a directly-elected mayor. In Bedford it was alleged to be in the order of £250,000 a year. Lib-Dem controlled Southwark forecast £2m a year. Hardly surprising then that many voters took fright. For the sake of truth, in Bedford the cost of mayor and entourage fell by more than 25% after I was elected and has still not returned to its previous level. It was not surprising that the referendum for a directly-elected mayor had a low turnout given the attempts by the council to obscure the issue. Nevertheless there was a comfortably majority in favour of the plan. The first mayoral election also had a low turnout but it was held mid-term like a by-election, and most by-elections have low turnouts. The second mayoral election, at which I was re-elected, had a 40.8% turnout, substantially more than normal for local elections in Bedford. Of the 12 elected mayors outside London there has only been one counter-revolution – in Stoke – and the turnout for that was also low. On the basis of their argument the authors should dismiss that as irrelevant. There are also rumblings in Doncaster, but politics there have always been difficult and before the directly-elected mayor, the borough had huge problems. As for calling mayors to account outside the normal elections, a vote of the council would disadvantage mayors elected from outside the majority party who could face a whipped vote against them at any stage. Particularly disadvantaged would be independents like myself who could be held to ransom. There is, I concede, an argument for a recall mechanism and maybe one will be introduced. Finally, let me point you towards those directly-elected mayors with whom their electorate appears well-satisfied. Watford Lib-Dems unsuccessfully opposed directly-elected mayors, but when the voters decided that was what they wanted, Lib-Dem candidate Dorothy Thornhill was elected. She is now in her second term. In London Sir Robin Wales in Newham, Sir Steve Bullock in Lewisham and Jules Pipe in Hackney have all won second terms. Elsewhere, Tony Egginton retains his popularity in Mansfield, as does Ray Mallon in Middlesbrough. Stuart Drummond increased his majority 17-fold in Hartlepool. The most recent mayor, Nick Bye, won Torbay despite a campaign first against a referendum, then against a mayor, and while he has yet to face re-election there will be few to bet against him winning. North Tyneside is peculiar in that it has had three elected mayors but, as far as I am aware, there is no serious opposition to the post. Nor is there in my own borough of Bedford. People in mayoral authorities see things getting done at last. In all of these authorities, officers changed from sceptical or hostile (in my case) to supportive because they could see the mayoral model helps get things done instead of waiting for the council's lowest common denominator to make a decision. There is a very simple reason for the lack of enthusiasm by councillors for directly-elected mayors. Mayors reduce their opportunities for obfuscation and delay. Members start to wonder what they are there for? A question they should have asked before standing. Most councils will seek to dampen-down interest in changing to a model of local government which does not suit them. Or to put it more simply, turkeys don't vote for Christmas. Frank Branston is directly-elected Mayor of Bedford BC

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WHITEHALL

Why mayors are a bridge to the electorate

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