What can elected mayors do for our cities?

On 3rd May 2012, ten of England’s largest cities, including Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Manchester, will decide whether or not to be governed by directly-elected mayors. The introduction of elected mayors is a key part of the Coalition government’s decentralisation agenda and has the potential to be one of the most significant constitutional reforms of this parliament.

The Institute for Government (IfG) is publishing a collection of short essays assessing the merits and limitations of directly-elected mayors. The report is a collaborative effort between some of the best policy institutes working in this field, including the Institute for Public Policy Research, the Brookings Institution, Localis, the New Local Government Network, the London School of Economics, the Young Foundation, the Centre for Cities and the 2020 Public Service Trust.

‘What can elected mayors do for our cities?’ launch event

The report ‘What can elected mayors do for our cities?’ will be launched on the 29th of March at a special event in Birmingham with:

• Rt Hon. Greg Clark MP, Minister for Cities and Decentralisation
• Sir Steve Bullock, Mayor of the London Borough of Lewisham
• Gordon Campbell, former Mayor of Vancouver
• Tom Gash, Editor of the publication & Programme Director, IfG

Greg Clark will make the opening speech putting forward the case for directly-elected mayors and the broader decentralisation agenda. The Minister will then be joined by Steve Bullock, Gordon Campbell and Tom Gash to answer questions from the audience.  Lord Adonis, former Secretary of State for Transport will also contribute.  The event will be followed by a drinks reception in the Future Gallery between 17.00 and 18.00.

To request a place, please reply to events@instituteforgovernment.org.uk by the 13th March.

We are grateful to Virgin Trains for supporting this event.