THE question Bristolians will be asked in May's referendum has been set down.

A Parliamentary committee yesterday confirmed the date of the vote – May 3 – and also agreed the wording for the question, the answer to which could shape the city's political future.

Ballot papers will read as follows:

How would you like Bristol to be run? By a leader who is an elected councillor chosen by a vote of the other elected councillors. This is how the council is run now.

OR By a mayor who is elected by voters. This would be a change from how the council is run now.

If Bristol votes yes to a mayor, campaigning will begin in earnest, and the mayor elected in November.

Local government minister Andrew Stunell said: "This referendum is about letting local people decide."

The Liberal Democrat minister's public endorsement of the case for a mayor came as party colleague and Business Secretary Vince Cable admitted he was "not a fan" of the policy.

Two local Conservative MPs, Bristol North West's Charlotte Leslie and Kingswood's Chris Skidmore, joined the Delegated Legislation Committee for yesterday's debate at Westminster.

Ms Leslie, pictured, said it was "extremely timely", pointing to the Evening Post's ongoing debate about how to improve the city.

She said: "Our local paper, the Evening Post, has run a very interesting debate on whether Bristol is an underperforming city, a great city punching below its weight.

"I believe Bristol has many great successes. We have great business success, great green credentials, and our media and arts are second to none in the country. But the debate is whether this is despite politics, or because of it. One of the great things that bothers Bristol people is the arrangement of our political system. It couldn't be more timely."

Bristol residents have an "apathy" towards change, Ms Leslie said, because so many previous attempts have failed.

And she said one perceived problem was the frequency of council elections. People are shocked when they learn the salary of the council chief executive, she claimed, while many cannot name the council leader.

Mr Skidmore said he was a "proud Bristolian", despite representing a constituency outside the city's council boundaries.

An elected mayor would be a "shot in the arm" for Bristol, he said.

But he wanted assurances there would be no "mission creep" with powers awarded over his constituency, which lies within South Gloucestershire Council's authority.

Mr Stunell gave an "absolute assurance" that the mayor's powers would be confined to Bristol, saying anything else would require fresh government legislation.

After the hearing Ms Leslie said: "Ask people what they think of Bristol's politics and you usually get some feisty replies.

"The debates about Bristol having the political will to achieve its potential and the prospect of an elected mayor could not be more timely.

"Many people are asking whether Bristol, the second richest city outside London, punches below its weight in comparison to its competitors, in terms of its education record, local transport infrastructure and facilities like arena, conference venues, stadium."

Ms Leslie said the frequency of council elections – with three years out of every four seeing polling in at least some of the city's wards – had added to the feeling that Bristol's politics was "broken".

She said: "Bristol has unusually frequent elections, which means the city is paralysed by being in election mode for a large chunk of most years, damaging long-term decision-making.

"People often feel that because of this we have an ever-changing carousel of elected members, flickering in and out of election-mode, revolving around a static core of unelected officers.

"And this lack of continuity pushes decision-making away from elected members and towards, in most cases hard-working but unelected officials, who make decisions over significant budgets.

"An elected mayor would be accountable, visible and would have the opportunity to find and instigate solutions to improve the city's politics. Moreover, the referendum over whether we have a mayor or not is exactly the right place to air these simmering concerns about Bristol's politics."