Should Swindon have an elected mayor?
28/05/2008 – From the June 2008 Link magazine Swindonians are not able to choose the person who runs the town because Swindon Council’s affairs are in the hands of a collection of councillors from one party which controls the seats around the cabinet table, jockeying for position and pulling the strings of power. In April the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) published a report looking at the success of elected mayors since they were introduced eight years ago, suggesting that Central Government force local councils to put the idea before the electorate. Yet we’ve been here before. The June 2001 Link magazine was the only local media that highlighted the idea. But the then Labour controlled council’s consultation on having elected mayors, as required by government, was half hearted and distinctly biased. The exercise was shrouded in secrecy and was designed to preserve the status quo. Read our analysis of the consultation from November 2001 below. However the experience in the
