Elected Mayors in English Local Government: Mayoral Leadership and Creating a new Political Dynamic.

Abstract

The introduction of directly elected mayors into English local government was intended to bring about a new form of local political leadership, revitalise local politics and re-engage citizens with local democracy. Yet, English elected mayors were not given any new powers to distinguish them, or their councils, from the rest of local government or powers that would enable them to change the dynamic of local politics. The paper reports the findings of research which explored how elected mayors are developing their leadership role and asked if they are able to provide the sort of leadership envisaged for the new office. Keywords: • Directly elected mayors • political parties • governance • political leadership