Bath to hold mayoral referendum following campaign

Supporters say Bath needs a mayor to give local government more visibility

A referendum on an elected mayor for Bath and North East Somerset will be held in 2016, after a petition reached the threshold of 6,437 votes.

Legally, it needs at least 5% of local electors for a referendum to go ahead.

Those behind the petition say a mayor would offer more dynamic leadership and "rise above party politics".

Council leader Tim Warren said it felt "unnecessary" so soon after the elections. If successful, a directly elected mayor would replace him.

The council announced on Monday that it had received 6,818 valid signatures. A further 2,789 signatures were ruled to be invalid.

'Public appetite'

Directly elected mayors were created by the Local Government Act 2000 as one option for local government, as long as the idea was backed in a referendum.

Bath & North East Somerset Council said the threshold set out under the 2000 Act had been reached and "it is anticipated that the referendum will be held early next year".

In Bath, the council is run by a leader and cabinet system.

Philip Raby, one of the team working for a referendum, said they favoured holding it on 5 May 2016, the day of the police and crime commissioner elections.

He felt a directly elected mayor would offer "visible and accountable leadership" for the wider area - something he felt the current system did not offer.

Mr Warren said there were "challenging budgetary issues" to concentrate on and questioned whether there was much public appetite for a referendum.

Local petitions sparked referendums which resulted in elected mayors in Salford, Greater Manchester in 2012 and in Copeland, Cumbria in 2015.

The Localism Act 2011 allowed central government to trigger referendums for elected mayors - but of the ten held in May 2012, only Bristol voted in favour of getting a mayor.