Well, it transpires that, despite most regions voting not to have directly elected mayors in regional referenda, they are going to have directly elected mayors.
I’ve seen lots of adverts on facebook encouraging us to vite in the elections. Each ad seems to be accompanied by reams of comments complaining that we were given the option of having a mayor and voted against it and now we’re getting a mayor! The main complaints seem to be that they’re an additional layer of bureaucracy and that they will be an expensive frippery.
So what are the views of the Sotonians Massive? A waste of time and money or an oppotunity for transformational leadership, giving a voice to the regions, creating critical mass and rebalancing the economy?
In case you were unaware, here is a map from the BBC page showing the regions.
We have 73 shit house politicians about to be returned to us by the EU. They are probably not fit to be released on to the streets, so these berths could be the perfect way to rehabilitate them.
Good idea in my opinion. Cities have long outgrown their origins. The Liverpool City Region seems the perfect way to organise what is now an essentially expanded Liverpool, and it’s not just the scousers that want in. Halton (Runcorn and Widnes) in Cheshire will join the ranks too, just as Southport did when Merseyside was being organised on that level. These places need a joined up authority.
Look at the squabbling down South between the various councils there, or the sprawl that Eastleigh borough has allowed itself to become, and the complete lack of any decent or reliable connecting infrastructure. Southampton is expected to cope with the demands of these outliers, but won’t be getting much of their council tax. Regions make a lot of sense.
Don’t be too hard on the councils that defied the democratic will of the people either. The Tories are starving them of funding, to the point where many will not be able to fund basic services. The big carrot here is councils getting to keep local business rates.
Yes, possibly. I guess, if the person who gets elected mayor is seen to be free-loading and sponging off expenses, then the electorate always have the option of voting them out of power at the next election.
The model with have is the London mayor. So far, they have been Ken Livingstone, Boris and Sadiq Khan. Make of that what you will.
I am wondering what the turnout will be, especially now it’s been eclipsed by the general election. I heard dire predictions of less than 12% turn out and was wondering how low turn out can go before it’s declared null and void
I was listening to George Galloway’s interview with Steven Norris. They didn’t agree on much, but they did both chortle that the Liberal Democrats were the most cynical party and that every other party hated them. I don’t hate them, but I can never vote for them again (I voted for them in 2010).
Well, it looks like the northern ones are going Labour. However, the Tory candidate won in the West (Bristol, Bath etc) which has been Lib Dem for ages. That doesn’t bode well for the Lib Dems in the general election.
Meanwhile, the Tory candidate has edged the first round polling in the West Mids with a surprisingly high 29% turn out. I think the West Mids is seen as having the bellweather constituencies and, apparently, the Labour guy was trounced in Dudley, which vascillates between the parties.
