The Government should use the Elections Bill to revert to single transferable votes for mayoral elections, says the director of IPPR North.

Speaking at yesterday's New Local Stronger Things festival in London, Zoe Billingham said devolution must focus on democratic reform.

‘Given the current context of great fragmentation of the vote and the rise of the far right in the UK and the current state of democracy, I think more and more that devolution has to be about democratic reform.'

She added: ‘If devolution fails to do that in England then I think then we have a lot to answer for. Turnout is  not where it needs to be. In the last [local and mayoral] elections we saw one mayor being voted in with 7.5% of the number who turned out to vote. That is really starting to call into question democratic validity.'

The Conservative Government, at the end of its term, changed the voting system for mayors from ranked single transferable vote to a first past the post system. Billingham said: ‘So they made the voting system slightly less inclusive, slightly less democratic.

‘And I think this government with the Elections Bill forthcoming, should think about swapping it back to a more proportional voter system and to make sure that those who do turn out make a more representative choice of candidates.'

She added: ‘I also think that links to the government agenda on votes for 16. If the government wants to start somewhere, why not start locally?

To improve local democracy, Billingham emphasised the importance of working locally ‘to think about who our leadership is, and how representative they are of our communities'.

She added: ‘Local and regional government are not exactly perfect in this regard. I think there's a lot more you can do. We are currently working with Liverpool City Region, looking at the kind of pipeline of diverse talent. And this is where I think there's an interesting interplay between community leaders and those who decide to enter elections and democratic systems.

‘We're looking at whether there should be a kind of more clear pipeline through from community leadership through to elected office.'

Chairing the panel session on how to use devolution as an opportunity to redistribute power from Westminster to localities and communities, chief executive of New Local Jessica Studdert said:  ‘There's a big structural institutional reform agenda underway, and so much of what is happening is driven through the growth prism. But there is a democratic opportunity [here].

‘From a place-based accountability perspective, how are we ensuring that what's new is not  just about driving growth, but also that this is an opportunity for a democratic reset?'