UK cities, mayoral powers, and “tall poppy syndrome”

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This morning over at Atlantic Cities, Richard Florida aptly refuted an opinion piece by Kevin Meagher that appeared in the Guardian last week advocating for doing away with the position of Mayor in London. Florida lays out several strong arguments in favor of a strong elected mayor who can act as an advocate for his or her city.

In fact, I forwarded several of these same arguments in May in a piece for ULI Europe in advance of a series of referenda in twelve other cities, hoping to offer a trans-Atlantic perspective on the value of strong mayors. As we now know, all but two of those referenda failed, leaving most English cities with a Council Leader who is voted into that position by the other elected members of the city or town council.…..read more.