Nottingham votes no to elected mayor

Nottingham has voted against having a directly-elected mayor.

The city is one of 10 in England which held a referendum on a proposal to replace the appointed leader system of local government.

Turnout out for the mayoral referendum was 23.9%, including postal votes.

According to official figures, 57% of these voted against having an elected mayor in Nottingham, preferring to keep the current leadership.

Mick Newton, who resigned from the Labour Party to become an independent candidate and lead the "Yes" campaign, said he still felt change was on its way.

"I think that a significant number of people in Nottingham are not happy with the way the city council is run," he said.

"I don't think we'll stick with this system, it's only a question of time before the system is changed."

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: "Nottingham is a bit of an oddity anyway, it goes against the grain of most things in local government.

"But the important thing is, if I'm a fan of mayors, I'm an even bigger fan of localism and local people deciding."

But leader of Labour-controlled Nottingham City Council, Jon Collins, said: "This was a referendum imposed on us by the coalition government which the majority of local people clearly did not agree with.

"I am pleased with this outcome because an elected mayor would have been expensive and unnecessary.

"This outcome shows that local people recognise we have a system in Nottingham which is working well for them and the city."

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