Directly elected Mayors?

Well, a think tank has come out in support of every town in England having a directly elected Mayor. You see, currently the legislation is there to allow this, but 5% of the inhabitants of a district need to sign a petition calling for a directly elected mayor, before a referendum can be held. Easier said than done, I am sure you will agree.

I don't know, I half agree with the proposal. I do believe big cities should go down this road, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, places like that. As we have seen in London, a directly elected Mayor can have profound consequences on a city, re-energising politics, and providing a figurehead for the city. At the moment, most Council Leaders are anonymous figures with no name recognition at all, but this proposal could change all of that. These figures would have the public support to push forward radical proposals.

However, I do have some misgivings. My understanding is that currently a directly elected Mayor can overrule the council chamber on a great number of issues. This needs to be worked out. After all, what is the point of a councillor if they hold no power, and can have their views summarily overridden by the executive? Also, the think tank (IPRR) suggest this for every single district in England. For that proposal, I completely disagree. Where districts are closely related to big cities, I can see the argument. However, most aren't. A 'Mayor of Leeds' would be a powerful figure, could we say the same for a 'Mayor of Suffolk Costal'?