Directly elected mayor referendum in Plymouth

Political parties and mayor campaign have their say

Plymouth voters will go to the polls on Thursday 17 July to decide if they want a directly elected mayor for the city.

Polling stations – 111 of them across the city – will be open from 7am to 10pm.

Electors will cast their vote on whether the authority should be run by a leader who is an elected councillor chosen by the full council, which is the current system, or a mayor elected by the public, who is not required to be part of a political party.

The referendum, costing £410,000, is taking place because earlier this year more than 10,000 people in Plymouth signed a petition in support of it. The Mayor for Plymouth campaign was instigated by businessman Angus Forbes, who is the husband of dancer and former Strictly Come Dancing judge Darcey Bussell.

The government has said it intends to scrap city mayors but a new act of parliament has to be passed for this to happen.

If the people of Plymouth choose to have a directly elected mayor on Thursday, an election to decide who that is will be postponed by a year to May 2027 to allow the English Devolution Bill to go through parliament.

The Plymouth Knows Better campaign, which includes some prominent Plymouth Labour councillors, has called the referendum a “waste of money” saying minister of state for local government and English devolution Jim McMahon’s statement three weeks ago confirming that no new city mayors would be created under new laws made the process “entirely redundant”.

The 13 city mayors that currently exist will remain.

With aims to transfer power for things like transport, housing, skills and local infrastructure from Whitehall to local areas, devolution and local government reorganisation are fast coming down the tracks but the only new mayors the government wants to see are the ones in charge of new large strategic authorities, like the one being proposed for Devon as a whole.

However, under current legislation, once a referendum is called it cannot be cancelled without further primary legislation.

Angus Forbes says the Mayor for Plymouth campaign is about strong accountable leadership directly chosen by all Plymouth voters with politics taking a back seat.

He says that the city council would be obliged to make constitutional changes if the vote was in favour of a directly elected mayor in spite of the government announcement.

City mayors have similar powers as council leaders and can also appoint a cross party cabinet of executive members.

Plymouth last had a referendum for a directly elected mayor in 2002 when 59 per cent of voters said no to it. This was a postal referendum in which the turnout was 39.8 per cent, which was considered high for a referendum of this type.

The count for the 2025 referendum will take place at Plymouth Life Centre, with a result expected in the early hours of Friday.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service gave the four main political parties on Plymouth City Council and the Mayor for Plymouth campaign the chance to express their views ahead of the vote.

Leader of the Independents, Cllr Patrick Nicholson (Plympton St Mary) said: “All seven Independent councillors in our group are supporting the Yes campaign for a Mayor for Plymouth.

“As the referendum isn’t cancelled we are urging residents to please vote on Thursday and to vote Yes so they have a voice in who leads our city council.”

Leader of the Conservatives, Cllr Andy Lugger (Southway) said: “Leaving aside the ambiguity contained in the Labour Devolution White Paper with respect to directly elected mayors, I am glad that the law has been clarified, thus stopping this unwelcome thing in its tracks. However, it is a great pity that the referendum will still proceed at a tremendous cost to the local taxpayer. This is something that should be placed on the doorstep of the Labour Government.

 “The whole concept is a futile folly – a view I articulated 23 years ago when it was first mooted. Whilst I respect the democratic right to call a referendum, and commend the motives of the people for the ‘Yes Vote’, I cannot abide by the concept for ideological reasons. 

 “Plymouth is the powerhouse of Devon and its commonsense local political system adds to its historic prosperity. Our current system works extremely well and has done so for generations. A directly elected mayor for Plymouth is a political experiment that we should avoid at all costs. And it is the costs that concern me most.

 “The whole concept of putting power in the hands of one person, with limited ‘checks and balances’ is an anathema to any politician in a liberal democracy. I encourage people not to waste their democratic right, vote No this week.

Leader of the Green party, Cllr Lauren McLay (Plympton Chaddlewood) said:  “Whichever way Thursday’s mayoral referendum goes, Plymouth is being asked to believe that one person can save our city. 

“The real question should be: how do we build a better, fairer, more democratic, more accountable system for Plymouth? The answer to that, for me, is not a mayor, nor is it staying as we are. 

“The choice you aren’t being given on Thursday is the committee system. It’s a system with listening and collaboration at its heart where local people feed directly into committees in which all councillors, elected by every corner of this city, would work together openly to share decision-making power, informed by your views.

“Ultimately, this referendum boils down to one word: power. It’s been held in the hands of too few for far too long. In many ways it feels as though this campaign is a sticking plaster for a long-term problem — a change of one face in our city’s entrenched leadership. There are better ways to bring about this change.”

Angus Forbes of the Mayor for Plymouth Campaign said: “On Thursday, Plymothians should vote for a mayor because this is a real ‘change’ referendum which only happens once a generation. The mayor structure has the four advantages of DATE: more democracy (power to the people), more accountability (the candidates must actually say what they are going to deliver), more talent (our best leaders can come forward without having to be councillors), more economic growth and revenue for services (businesses respond to the democratic legitimacy of office). 

“To achieve collectively, we have to truly believe in our leadership. A leader who inspires, a leader who we would follow through a brick wall, a leader who puts the pride back in this city. Above all, a leader we choose directly.”

He said the current “divisive, over political” system had to go.

“Ignore the politicians, exercise your democratic right and vote for a mayor,” he said. “We then tell Westminster what we want and set them the task of taking it away, if they dare.”

Cllr Jemima Laing (Lab, Stoke) on behalf of Plymouth Labour said: “Why should this pointless referendum matter to people, when the Government’s already said there’ll be no new city mayors? Because it’s costing us trust, time, and £410,000.

“We’ve been dragged into a divisive and personal campaign pushed by someone who’s lived in Plymouth for less than three years, who described our city at a public meeting as ‘the most sensational piece of real estate in the UK’. That kind of influence over local democracy should concern us all.

“This could have been timed with the local elections to save money. It wasn’t. The Yes campaign has consistently ignored the crucial fact the city mayor model is being scrapped altogether. They’ve pressed ahead anyway, fingers in their ears only interested in shouting the loudest, while Angus Forbes repeatedly dodged an invitation to debate the substance of his proposal, that tells you all you need to know.

“And while they claim a city mayor will fix everything, they’ve done it by talking down Plymouth and smearing your local representatives across the board.

“But I see councillors of all parties fighting for their communities every single day. That won’t change.

“What can change is this: on Thursday, vote No to reject this costly distraction, and to show Plymouth’s not for sale to the highest bidder. Let’s draw a line under this waste of time saga for good.”