Thames Valley Mayor Debate Sparks Heated Clash

Councillors have clashed over whether there should be an elected mayor for the Thames Valley, covering Berkshire, Oxfordshire and possibly Swindon.

Councillors clashed over whether the Thames Valley should get a directly elected mayor, covering Berkshire, Oxfordshire and possibly Swindon, at a full meeting of Wokingham Borough Council on Thursday 27 November.

The Labour government is encouraging councils to form combined authorities like Manchester’s, and council leader Stephen Conway (Liberal Democrats, Twyford, Ruscombe & Hurst) said a strategic authority would make it easier to tackle region-wide problems and attract investment. He urged councillors to back an expression of interest to government.

He said: “To refuse to take this first nonbinding step would be to miss a great opportunity. We have nothing to lose and may have much to gain.”

Conservative opposition leader Pauline Jorgensen (Hillside) said Conway had “backflipped”, noting he opposed an elected mayor in September last year, and argued the idea would remove power from local councils.

Cllr Jorgensen said: “This proposal is falsely badged as devolution.

“However, in another example of Labour double speak, it is the opposite: the proposal is for a directly elected mayor of the Thames Valley who will take powers from the elected council and use them to dictate policy on housing, roads and more to local councils.

“Just like the dark days of Berkshire County Council, once again decision-making will be removed far from the people it affects.

“This remoteness is why local people voted to abolish the County Council. Now they’re having even more remote decision-making imposed on them without their consent.”

The authority would be made up of the lead councillors for Thames Valley areas and headed by an elected mayor. Jorgensen warned a board of leaders advising the mayor would not be a direct democratic link: “There will be a board of leaders advising the new mayor, but it’s not clear what happens if they disagree. It is also quite possible that a party with the largest number of councillors in the Thames Valley is not even represented on that body.

“A board of leaders is not the same as a direct democratic link.”

Mark Ashwell (Liberal Democrats, Evendons), executive member for economic development, said the borough needed to be involved to secure long-term influence and investment: “I say you've got to be in it to win it.”

Other Conservatives said a strategic authority would be a “backwards step for local democracy” and could marginalise borough councillors. Liberal Democrat Cllr Imogen Shepherd-DuBey (Emmbrook) said the new authority would not affect the borough council’s existing powers.

Cllr Dave Edmonds (Conservative, Spencers Wood & Swallowfield) accused Conway of ‘abdicating leadership’ and said he should “step aside”. Conway replied: “I regret Dave's attempt to personalise this. I'm not sure there was any particular need for that.

“Dave said I should be fighting for the borough, not appeasing other powers. Well, you can't fight for the borough if you're not actually at the table to do so!”

In a recorded vote, all Conservative councillors voted against creating a strategic authority, with all other councillors voting for it. The Conservatives were outvoted, so an expression of interest will be sent to the government to begin discussions about devolution and a mayoral strategic authority for the region.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter