Lukewarm response to idea of elected mayor in Birmingham

The campaign for a directly elected mayor to run Birmingham was in the balance last night after residents gave the idea a lukewarm response.

The campaign for a directly elected mayor to run Birmingham was in the balance last night after residents gave the idea a lukewarm response.

Ministers are keen for England's second city to pick its own figurehead to follow in the tradition of the great Victorian reformer Joseph Chamberlain. The move would also give fresh momentum to stalled government moves for towns and cities to elect their own mayors.

But 46.4 per cent of 221,587 Birmingham residents who took part in a survey into the city council's future opted to keep the current model – a leader elected by the council with a cabinet of councillors.

The other 53.6 per cent backed the principle of a mayor, split between the alternatives of an elected mayor and cabinet of councillors (40.2 per cent) or an elected mayor and council manager (13.4 per cent). Both sides claimed victory in the survey, but Birmingham City Council looks unlikely to press for an elected mayor because 89 of 117 councillors oppose it. If they decided to go ahead, the plan would need to be approved next year in a formal referendum of residents.

Albert Bore, the council leader, said he was delighted at the 30 per cent turn-out in the poll. He said: "It is quite clear there is a majority of support for cabinet government and majority support for an elected mayor."

Mike Whitby, the deputy Conservative leader who is the spokesman for the council's anti-mayor coalition, said: "First past the post is the tradition of Britain and should be the tradition of Birmingham. The citizens of the city quite clearly stated what option they want and I think that will be endorsed by the city council."

A spokesman for the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions said: "We are interested that over 50 per cent of those taking part would like to see a mayor."

Previous ballots in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Cheltenham and Gloucester have rejected the idea of an elected mayor. The idea has been approved so far only in Watford.

Although there was a 57 per cent majority in favour of an elected mayor in Bradford, the proposal was abandoned because only 15 per cent of the city's residents had voted.