Thurrock MP Jackie Doyle-Price has backed the proposal for a directly elected Mayor for Thurrock.
By law the local authority must consult on its leadership arrangements and give the public the opportunity to decide whether they want the council to be led by a leader and cabinet, or whether they would prefer to elect the council leader by introducing a directly elected Mayor.
Under the council leader model, a leader would be elected for a four year term, but could be removed if they lost the confidence of the council. If a Mayor was elected directly they too would serve for four years but would receive their authority directly from the voters. Under this system the council would scrutinise the Mayor and hold them to account but the Mayor’s authority would come from the public and not individual councillors.
Jackie said, “It is a no-brainer. Given the amount of power leaders have over the strategy and direction of a local community it is much more democratic that electors should decide who should lead them and be able to hold them to account against what they promised to deliver.
At present voters in Thurrock elect their local councillor with no idea about who will subsequently lead the council. When there is no clear majority for any political party, as at present, the leader can be changed at the whim of individual councillors. In the last 18 months Thurrock has been led by three different leaders. This does not make for effective leadership or governance. We should let the people decide who they want to lead them.”
