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Labour’s plan to hide Greater Manchester’s Mayor away from the public
by Lib Dem Team on 14 October, 2016
Jane Brophy – Lib Dem candidate for Mayor of Greater Manchester
Next May Greater Manchester will elect its first Mayor, with the excellent Jane Brophy standing as the Lib Dem candidate.
The Mayor will control a budget of around £1.5 billion – more than any council. So it’s important that councillors and the public have the chance to question the mayor directly – as the Leader and Executive at Stockport Council can be questioned in Full Council meetings.
If the Mayor is spending your money, you should have the chance to ask them about any part of their job and get an answer.
Are Labour going to allow it?
I asked the question at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Scrutiny meeting. I was told (and I quote) that there is “the potential to open up a discussion” about councillors and the public directly questioning the mayor in that way. Sir Humphrey would be proud!
We need to do better than that. It isn’t acceptable for Labour to hide the Mayor of Greater Manchester away from the people. We need a system that allows the Mayor and Greater Manchester Executive, whoever they might be, to be held to account and questioned by councillors and members of the public on any relevant issue.
4 Comments
Agreed!
Unfortunately Labour could put a stuffed pig up for Mayor and it would win.
I am sorry to say we are going to end up with the unsufferable Andy Burnham.
I hope I am wrong
Burnham is the favourite, but the election will be by alternative vote. That means that, if no candidate gets over half the first preference votes, votes from the weaker candidates transfer and that can throw it wide open.
No idea who Jane Brophy is but it is very important that Andy Burnham does not win. Even Richard Leese thinks he has nothing to offer. The problem is that I can only see a very poor turnout in the election and apart from Burnham the candidates are not well known. We should be seeking a known figurehead for the job to make a break with the party system and bring the prospect of some radical regional control. Too late now I suppose.