Businesses call for an elected Essex mayor

Essex councillors have long been divided over having a directly elected mayor

A leading business group is calling on Essex councils to negotiate for a mayoral devolution deal with the Labour government.

The Essex Chambers of Commerce, which represents 700 businesses, says the county should "be aiming for this rather than a less ambitious deal, without a mayor".

The body warned: "Essex is in danger of being left behind other places which are prepared to embrace fully the principles of devolution".

The BBC understands that the county is working on submitting an expression of interest by the 30 September deadline.

The Chambers of Commerce said it would put the county "on a similar footing to the West Midlands, Greater Manchester or Teesside, where the introduction of mayors has significantly raised the profile of those areas".

The group believed it would "bring significant new government funding for investment in transport infrastructure, skills, business support and other areas necessary to underpin economic growth".

A spokesperson said: "Our business members were extremely disappointed last year that the three Essex councils were unable at that time to unite behind a shared ambition for a mayoral deal".

'Working better together'

Stansted Airport, Industrial Chemicals - which has a £150m turnover, logistics firm the Woodland Group in Chelmsford and the South Essex Colleges Group are among the organisations backing a mayoral deal for Essex.

Under the Conservative government's devolution offer to local areas, the top tier local authorities - Essex County Council, Southend and Thurrock - applied for a devolution deal that did not include a directly elected mayor, which meant Essex would have received fewer powers and less money from central government.

A Norfolk and Suffolk devolution deal agreed with the previous government was scrapped earlier this month for not being ambitious enough.

Essex councillors have long been divided over having a directly elected mayor for a county of nearly two million people with an economy similar in size to Northern Ireland.

Southend councillors of all political parties have in the past been against the idea of a mayor.

In July, the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner wrote to local authorities saying: "We will not force places to take on a metro Mayor, we will not shy away from making the case for their huge advantages."

Essex Chambers of Commerce said they believed having a directly elected mayor would "help to get Essex working better together and leave behind years of antagonism and distrust between councils".