Mayor campaign threatens action against government

The government announced on Tuesday that the creation of new mayor roles would be discontinued

The Mayor for Plymouth (MfP) campaign says it will take the government to high court over an announcement there will no be a directly-elected mayor for the city.

The government announced on Tuesday that the creation of new elected mayor roles would be discontinued to "simplify local government and support democratic accountability for local people".

The Plymouth Knows Better (PKB) - No to a City Mayor coalition, welcomed the news, but MfP said it betrayed "democracy".

A referendum on how the city is run was confirmed before the announcement, and is still set to take place on 17 July after a petition reached more than 10,000 signatures on the issue of the £75,000-per-year role.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said its devolution bill would "streamline England's complicated local governance system by phasing out inefficient and unclear committee-led council structures and preventing new mayor-led councils".

It said: "Given Plymouth's upcoming mayoral referendum, we have laid regulations to postpone any new mayoral elections by one year [from possibly 2026 to 2027] - meaning the area will remain governed as it currently is.

"This will help provide people with clarity and make sure time and resources are not spent moving Plymouth to a new governance arrangement while Parliament considers legislation that would prevent this."

MfP campaign leader Angus Forbes said the government had betrayed "democracy, current legislation and the people of Plymouth".

He said: "HM Government is willing to put the suffering of tens of thousands of its citizens to the side, in pursuit of the retention of political power.

"Plymothians want change, they want better democracy, they want their voice to be heard.

"The 13,800 Plymothians who signed the petition for change did so under current legislation."

'We will win'

Mr Forbes said the MfP still intended "to win" the referendum to grant its first mayor for May 2026.

He said: "If HM Government tries to stop us on the grounds of some prospective legislation, we will see them in the high court, where we will win.

"The final check and balance of a government's power is always the people, and it is this union of the people of Plymouth that will prevail against authoritarianism, fear and intimidation."

The MfP added that the referendum would take place under current law, "not prospective law that had not yet been passed".

Peter Gold, campaign manager for Plymouth Deserves Better, said it felt the government was "overruling local democracy".

"Local people, if we make a choice to vote for a mayor, the government overruling that is just basically cancelling democracy," he said.

Jemima Laing said supporters of an elected mayor "wouldn't take no for an answer"

Jemima Laing, deputy leader of Labour-led Plymouth City Council, said the leader of the MfP had been told the "direction the government was going".

She said: "It was very clear from the devolution white paper which was published at the end of last year.

"Angus Forbes can't say he wasn't told, can't say he didn't know and can't say he wasn't asked to stop.

"The reason we are spending over £400,000 on a referendum in Plymouth is because Angus Forbes wouldn't take no for an answer."