"No to Elected Mayors" say Lib Dems

12.00.00am GMT Mon 9th Jan 2006

At the recent full Council meeting the Liberal Democrats said "No" to elected mayors in Milton Keynes, because they are not in favour of concentrating power in the hands of one individual and they are not in favour of eroding the accountability of the Executive.

In response to a motion proposing an elected mayor for Milton Keynes, Councillor Cec Tallack said: "The people of Milton Keynes place great value in the work done by successive civic mayors of all parties to enhance the life of the community, as well as raising large amounts for many good causes throughout the city. The Liberal Democrats strongly believe that the Mayor of Milton Keynes should be a civic head of the Borough unencumbered by day-to-day politics."

Cec Tallack also pointed out that:

• the vast majority of councils have opted for governance models that are more inclusive than the mayoral option, and which do not concentrate power in one person's hands

• elected mayors erode the accountability of the executive to the whole council, as all an elected mayor would need is a minority one-third support for proposals to override the wishes of the majority of elected councillors

• the reputation of local government has not been enhanced by the persona and behaviour of some elected mayors

The overwhelming majority of councillors of all parties voted to reaffirm that they do not support power being concentrated in the hands of one individual.