Stoking up debate

Nick Watson Producer Politics Show West Midlands

Stoke-on-Trent is the only place in the Midlands to have a London-style elected Mayor but could that all be about to end?

The process to change things is not simple but a public consultation is under way which could begin a chain of events which means the current Mayor is the last one.

When Stoke adopted the system six years ago it was the only place in the country to install a powerful, but unelected, council manager alongside the elected Mayor.

The government later ordered Stoke to dump the council manager part of the equation.

Mayor or council leader?

As a result people are now being asked what they would prefer instead - An elected mayor with a cabinet of councillors or a more traditional council leader with a cabinet?

The consultation ends on August 8, 2008 and then councillors will be asked which system they want at a crunch council meeting on September 11, 2008.

Mark Meredith: Mayoral role threatened?

If they choose the Council leader system it is likely to trigger a referendum in October with the public being asked if they want to continue with a Mayor.

So how did it come to this?

Part of the problem perhaps lies in the aforementioned Council Manager set-up.

Mutiny

In other areas a ruling cabinet of councillors has governed alongside the Mayor - so the rank-and-file member is still involved when it comes to big decision making.

In Stoke though councillors used to choosing a council leader and dividing up powerful committee chairmanships themselves, turned mutinous in their new neutered role.

Democracy4Stoke - a pressure group - was born out of this feeling of impotence among councillors who have waged a long-running campaign to abolish the Mayoral system.

Ever since, local government in Stoke has been characterised by a long-running and, at times, bitter battle between supporters and opponents of the Mayoral system.

Extremist politics

Sir Michael Clarke: concerned for democracy

It was against this backdrop of council in-fighting that Sir Michael Clarke concluded in a damning report in May that the governance of Stoke is "damaged" and it "short-changed" local people.

Indeed since the Mayoral system was introduced the make-up of Stoke City Council has changed almost beyond recognition.

Labour - which once held all 60 seats on the council - now has just 16 members as the city has seen a rise of independent and extremist groups - notably the British National Party.

All this has happened against a backdrop of general economic decline and more recently a controversial reorganisation of the city's secondary school system.

So is it time to pull the chain on the Mayor? Susana Mendon�a has been to Stoke-on-Trent to judge the mood on the street. Current Mayor Mark Meredith joins us live in the studio.

Also in the programme ...

Liam Byrne has been hailed as "the Midlands most powerful politician", and when he became Minister for the West Midlands a year ago he was seen as one of Gordon Brown's most promising 'GOATS'. (Government of all the Talents)

Liam Byrne: 'the Midlands most powerful politician'?

For many in Government of course it has been the year when they have had to pull their horns in. But what of our regional minister? Has he been generally regarded as having done a good job?

That, of course, depends on who you talk to and how you judge a minister whose only real power, by his own admission, is to "bang heads together."

Head-banger

So after 12 months of "head-banging" what's changed.

There have been notable hits including the long-awaited green light for a major redevelopment of Birmingham's New Street Station - although Birmingham City Council are vying for the credit for delivering this one.

There have been misses as well including backing for the Birmingham Mail's ultimately fruitless campaign to force a referendum on an elected Mayor and clashing with Tory backbencher and Shrewsbury & Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski over his apparent elusiveness.

Our Political Editor Patrick Burns has been speaking to Mr Byrne about his year in office and what the next 12 months may hold.

The Politics Show for the West Midlands, with Jon Sopel and Sarah Falkland on Sunday 13 July, at 1200 BST on BBC One

If you have an issue you would like us to follow up then please write to the producer of the show:

Nick Watson, BBC Politics Show, The Mailbox, Birmingham, B1 1RF or email nicholas.watson@bbc.co.uk

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