In England and across the world, mayors have wildly disparate powers. So how do they stack up? Lucy Kenningham explains
In 1990, Michael Heseltine came back from a trip to Japan absolutely buzzing. It wasn’t the architecture or the sushi. Mayors, he enthused. The UK could do with its own crop of those. John Major was keen, but it was a devolution-inspired New Labour that took the idea and ran with it. Along with rolling out legislatures in Scotland and Wales, Tony Blair’s government created the position of London mayor in 2000.
They would have gone further, creating mayors across the country, but for a humiliating defeat. In the 2004 devolution referendum, a staggering 78 per cent of residents voted against devolving powers to the North East. John Prescott, a doughty champion of the devolution project, was particularly put out. If this result seems odd to you, perhaps that’s a sign of now near-universal support for regional devolution has become.
It’s a testament to the success of the mayoral model. “Since 2000, London’s three mayors have shown themselves to be able advocates for the capital, leaders at times of crisis, and promoters of projects and policies that would have been impossible in the 1990s,” says the Centre for London think tank (think of Cycle Superhighways and the Oyster Card). What’s more, “their powers have been extended to affordable housing programmes, more comprehensive planning powers, and stronger police oversight.”
London was pulling ahead in the 2000s, in part, people said, due to its devolved powers. To narrow the gap between the capital and the rest of the country, Heseltine published a paper arguing for more metro mayors in 2012. David Cameron was pro, deeming directly elected mayors “accountable”. In 2017, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City, Tees Valley, the West of England and the West Midlands got their own mayors. Almost every year since then, we’ve created more. For the first time, people across England are going to the polls to choose 13 mayors.
Yet ithey will all have different levels of power. That is because when a mayoral post is dreamed up, a negotiation ensues over transport, housing, local finance, education and police. Tees Valley Combined Authority has very different powers to Liverpool City Region, and different contexts and needs. The new North East mayor will hold devolved powers on transport, skills, planning and economic development. The mayors for West Yorkshire, North and West Yorkshire, London, South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester have control over the Police and Crime Commission.
England was, and still is, a very centralised country. In fact, the UK overall is one of the most centralised advanced democracies, according to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Devolution. What works in one region won’t work in another – and anyway, you can’t rush these things. Making a mayor is a slow process. The new mayor for the North East’s “powers are expected to grow over time,” the Institute for Government (IfG) explains. This was true in London, where the mayor was granted expanded powers in 2007. Likewise, Manchester and the West Midlands have only recently been granted “trailblazer” status, despite being formed in 2017.
So for now it’s a patchwork system. The incumbents this round are calling for increased power on housing, transport and local finance – perhaps hoping that with a mandate from the electorate the government might be more inclined to listen. Even not-yet-elected candidates are calling for more powers for their would-be positions.
But while governments have been excitedly creating new mayors and mayors are eagerly demanding more powers, voters in England seem a lot less enthusiastic. Turnout in today’s election is expected to be low.
So as Londoners go to the polls today, what are they really voting for and how does it compare to other regions?
London
The mayor is responsible for Transport for London and setting its fares; the Congestion Charge, Ulez and clean air policy. Unusually for England, the Mayor manages the commissioner of the Met Police, yet still relies on funds from the government and has to work with Westminster to pick out the boss of the police force.
On housing, the mayor has a varied arsenal. London Boroughs have overall responsibility for planning but the mayor publishes a London Plan, which sets out a city-wide spatial development and general growth strategy for the next two decades. The Mayor can intervene in overall planning applications for developments of ‘strategic significance’ but tends to do so rarely and sets affordable housing targets.
Manchester
Greater Manchester has the second most influential mayor. Established in 2017, the role exercises control over transport, skills, policing and the fire services. Last year, Manchester entered a ‘trailblazer scheme’, which extends their powers beyond even those of London in terms of financing and retrofitting of houses. Unlike other out-of-London authorities, it controls the local bus network and the tram system. It envisions a smart ticketing system (like London’s). Manchester also has a certain amount of control over the health and justice policy, in conjunction with Westminster.
West Midlands
The mayor of Birmingham and the surrounding areas was introduced in 2017 and is responsible for roads, bus franchising and the 19+ education budget. The office can work with builders on spatial planning and developing brownfield land. Last year, the West Midlands joined Manchester on the trailblazer scheme which will enable mayors to act more like government departments by allocating them a sum of money in ‘single settlement funding’ – which bypasses any ringfencing, giving the devolved legislation total control over where to direct the funds.
Liverpool City Region
Formed in 2021, the mayor of Liverpool and corresponding authority preside over a transport budget and bus franchising. Similar to London, the region wants to publish a spatial development strategy.
York and North Yorkshire
This new mayor will take control of the police, fire and crime commissioner. It will control the adult education budget. This position will also work with the government to develop the region’s cultural potential and develop its net zero ambitions. The mayor will have the power to impose a council tax precept, with the agreement of the authority as a whole. The power to charge a business rates supplement is also being devolved.
Tees Valley
Most mayors have powers to establish an investment zone, bar Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, West Yorkshire and York and North Yorkshire. Tees Valley is the prime example having thrown itself through mayor Ben Houchen into working with businesses to foster innovation and investment. The authority has also built new road crossings over the Tees and taken control of Teesside Airport.
Mayors du monde
In the US, the mayor has a far larger budget, direct control of the public school system (as of 2000) and a sizable public profile. Mike Bloomberg, Bill de Blasio and incumbent Eric Adams are well known for their time serving “the second hardest job in America”. Driven, with buckets of wealth and influence in his own right, Bloomberg enacted major interventions in public health, such as banning smoking in bars, restaurants, parks and beaches. He declared calorie counts on menus mandatory; London’s mayor can only just about ban hamburger ads from the faded walls of tube stations. Then again, a mayor of Mexico Marcelo Ebrard was able to legalise abortion.
Japan has a flourishing mayoral system established in 1947. Sometimes, mayoral elections receive higher turnouts than general elections. Japan had established this form of local governance in 1947. Key to a powerful mayor is allowing them control over taxes. In Japan, only seven per cent of the mayor’s revenue comes from central government, the smallest proportion compared to any other world city, including New York which receives one third of its cash from federal sources. In New York, the mayor administers taxes on personal income, property, alcohol, tobacco and stock transfers, whereas in London the mayor controls just a share of council tax.
The incumbent mayor for Paris has a penchant for referenda. Last year, Anne Hidalgo tackled escooters (deeply unchic) in a nonbinding referendum that only saw a seven per cent turnout – they voted against. This year, she ran a referendum on effectively banning SUVs from the city – tripling their parking fees in any case – which has also been successful. A socialist with a green agenda, she has a “track record of urban transformation” and has become one of the most controversial politicians in France. She has attempted to pursue a 15 minute city policy, which made up part of her 2020 election campaign. Hidalgo also has control over the city’s public school systems.