Cornwall Council leader confirms elected mayor included in devolution

Cornwall Council will begin asking residents for their views on a new devolution deal

Cornwall Council's leader has said the authority cannot get more devolution power without changing to an elected mayor.

Conservative Linda Taylor confirmed the council was told it needed a directly-elected mayor to secure the highest level of devolution.

The council and the region's MPs had been expected to ask the government for the new powers without the change.

But Mrs Taylor said other councils with the same request had been knocked back.

She said the government stipulated that a directly elected mayor was a condition of "level three devolution".

The council will now begin asking residents for their views on a new devolution deal, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

A mayoral system would be similar to those voted for in London and Manchester.

The council has been facing calls for a referendum on whether to have an elected mayor.

Mrs Taylor has previously dismissed this and said the council had no plans for a referendum due to the cost.

She added: "There will be a consultation period, it will be between six and eight weeks and that consultation will engage all aspects of the deal, not just being asked yes or no about a mayor.

"This is a democratic process and to be honest, being asked yes or no for a mayor when you don't know what you are getting is not very democratic."

But Councillor Tim Dwelly, who is also a member of the Let Cornwall Decide group, said it was not "in any way sensible" to push ahead without a referendum.

"My hope is that, even at the eleventh hour, they will see sense and drop the mayor proposal and not push any deal that insists on having one," he said.

A new devolution deal would have to be approved by a two-thirds majority vote of councillors, Mrs Taylor has said.