Heseltine backs 'yes' campaign for a Bristol mayor
CITIES such as Bristol will suffer a painful financial squeeze if they reject the chance to elect a mayor, according to Tory Parliamentary veteran Lord Heseltine.
The former Deputy Prime Minister pointed to the examples of London mayor Boris Johnson and Scottish first minister Alex Salmond, who were both exploiting their powerful positions to gain greater financial clout.
-
Lord Heseltine is backing calls for elected mayors
He said: "If you are an English provincial city, you will find yourself in the extraordinarily uncomfortable place of being sandwiched between the two of them – which is not where you would choose to be."
Lord Heseltine also said he believed other towns and cities across Britain would follow suit if the initial shakeup is a success.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Sunday, May 26 2013
Speaking at the London launch of a campaign for 'yes' votes in the 11 cities including Bristol, Lord Heseltine said: "This will be a stepping stone.
"If the mayoralties are a success in these 11 cities, then I have no doubt that the dominoes will begin to fall in other authorities.
"And that can only be a valuable thing, a way of rekindling entrepreneurial enterprise."
Only a directly-elected mayor could answer the question "who is in charge", the peer argued, insisting council leaders were invisible by comparison.
The Evening Post reported yesterday that the date for Bristolians to vote on whether or not they want an elected mayor has been set for May 3 next year. Unlike other cities that will be voting on the same subject that day, Bristol is not having local elections in May.
If the city votes in favour of having a mayor, the vote to decide who the person would be would probably be in the following November.
Comments
by jamie1984
Wednesday, December 07 2011, 11:41PM
“Hessletine has a valid point about Scotland and London (along with Wales - not mentioned) using Devolved Representation for own gain.
Bristol and the South West should take a slice of the pie!”
by jamie1984
Wednesday, December 07 2011, 11:38PM
“@frank1958 the bloke is unelected by the electorate”
by John_Name
Wednesday, December 07 2011, 9:45PM
“I always liked Heseltine. He always had chutzpah.”
by frank1958
Wednesday, December 07 2011, 5:56PM
“We already have a Mayor, he resides in the mansion house on the downs, why do we need another.”
by Charlespk
Wednesday, December 07 2011, 5:48PM
“We need to encourage people like this who can make things happen. in Bristol!
Too many just seem to despise success in Bristol!
http://tinyurl.com/c8xeugw”
by Charlespk
Wednesday, December 07 2011, 5:42PM
“There is a case to be made for someone like Mike Bennett here. . Someone who can get things done and make things happen, but who is not totally consumed with all this 'Political Correctness'.”
by Charlespk
Wednesday, December 07 2011, 5:16PM
“Enterprise, energy and DRIVE is what is needed as was demonstrated by Heseltine THE MACE WIELDER, and self-made multi-millionaire, not the tedious Lethargy demonstrated by the Liberal-Democrats over College Green.”
by rocketbob
Wednesday, December 07 2011, 4:54PM
“So that is Haseltine and Adonis both in favour of a Mayor at least the Tories and Labour have been positive. Now which way are the Lib Dems going to go? After the debate in Bristol when Adonis did not have a political axe to grind or even Ken Livingstone it appeared that there was at least some positive reasons to take the matter seriously.
With financial institutions in retreat at the moment, some enterprise is needed by someone to re energise the City.”
by green_man
Wednesday, December 07 2011, 4:00PM
“So Heseltine is in favour - and that is supposed to boost the case for an Elected Mayor?? His argument is self-contradictory for a start.
He says a Mayor would give us financial clout. He then says if the campaign is successful and we get Mayors in the major cities, many other towns and cities would follow suit. If this happened they would all be fighting for a limited pot of money - but that's only what is happening now with councils. The only difference would be a load of mayors competing in place of councils.”
by Charlespk
Wednesday, December 07 2011, 9:07AM
“@bris28
If Bristol City Council was fit for the purpose, they would have been removed within the first two or three hours. . That's why we have a Police Force.”