Former Plymouth City Council leader Patrick Nicholson is urging residents to back a directly elected Mayor structure in next week’s referendum, arguing it is the only way to break decades of “failure and missed opportunities”.
The Independent councillor said it is time Plymouth had a leader chosen by the people and not just a handful of councillors - enabling them to ignore what the public thinks, which he says is ‘fundamentally wrong’, and for Labour to try to ‘scrub out democracy’ is ‘out of order’. He said:
"Why should Plymouth miss out on the opportunity of having a single voice that isn't tied by the views of councillors but is endorsed by the wider population of Plymouth, which now stands at over 260,000 people.
“The option of having a Mayor was first considered around 2000/2001. And I certainly, as the then leader of the Council, really was of the view that introducing Mayors into local democracy and in Plymouth and the UK was inappropriate.
“But what we have seen since then is a plethora of Mayors elected across the country and how they take that opportunity in the role to project their local communities at a national stage and a regional stage.
“I think it's important to recognise what's happened over the last 20 years and actually to encourage people in the city to consider change and to back the Mayor proposal on the 17th of July. That's why I've changed my view. That's why I'm urging people to support the Mayoral option and to use their vote on the 17th of July.”
On Thursday, 17th July, you can help preserve democracy by voting in your Plymouth referendum for a Mayor.
Councillor Nicholson, who has been a Councillor for Plympton St Mary for over 30 years, said Plymouth has been stuck in neutral for too long and that so many of the city’s aspirations have not been realised. He said:
“Over the last 20 years, Plymouth has always been speaking about realising its potential. In 2003, I had some involvement with Lord Owen at the time of initiating the Mackay vision which was to basically regenerate and improve Plymouth for coming generations. Many of the aspirations that were agreed back in 2003, still to this day, have never been realised."
Cllr Nicholson, leader of the Independents, pointed to long-running issues that successive council leaders have failed to resolve. Chief among them, he says, is Plymouth City Airport, which has been closed since 2011 and remains an undeveloped tract of land.
“I think one of the most important issues for which successive politicians in the last 20 years have failed to get a grip off is the airport. Now, it consists of a significant number of acres of land but we just have that land sitting idle. It's neither an airport nor being put to any good use.
“And yet, we've had Tudor Evans, the current leader of the council, who's been the leader of the Labour group since 1998. He's had about five terms in office and still, to this day, we've not got any movement.”
Cllr Nicholson argues the problem lies with the current system itself, and that the leader of the council answers only to a small group of councillors in his Cabinet, and those residents in his own ward of Ham - a group of just 1,300 people in a city of 260,000. He said:
“As long as you keep those residents happy, you can do whatever you want as long as your councillors support you. So your view can be different to the wider public’s view and the priorities of councillors, sadly can be out of step with the public.
“That's why fundamentally, a leader supported by councillors needs to change. We need a leader that will listen to the wider public, not dismiss the views of the wider public. I don't think the current leader shows any appetite to listen to the public.”
Cllr Nicholson, who was first elected in 1992 as the youngest member of the City Council, and has served as shadow leader, council leader, Lord Mayor and deputy leader, said he thinks the current leader Tudor Evans has “failed to deliver” when it comes to running the city. He said:
“Over the period that Tudor Evans has been a councillor in Plymouth, he has alienated an awful lot of people and he’s failed to deliver on some key issues that the public would like the council to deliver on, and therefore, that’s why I think he’s against the Mayor role because he knows that he would lose his job.
“He knows that if he were to stand for the Mayor, or indeed in any election where the wider city would vote, he wouldn’t be successful.”
Cllr Nicholson is also highly critical of recent national political manoeuvres. The government has said it may remove the option for some areas to have directly elected mayors in the future, prompting concern the outcome of Plymouth’s referendum could be overridden. Cllr Nicholson said:
“For anybody in a position of authority, be it councillors or government ministers, to make announcements during an election period, which this referendum is, is normally illegal. So to do it in this case, I think is highly questionable, and I anticipate it will have an impact on people participating in the referendum.
“Ultimately, the government might find themselves in court, having done something which is totally out of order in any normal election process. His announcement indicates a direction of travel, but it doesn't actually confirm that there's any change in the law. And as we've only recently seen in Parliament, the government, even with a massive majority, can struggle to get its legislation through. So it's not a foregone conclusion that any change in the law would prevail in the future."
He added:
"I absolutely think that Tudor Evans had a hand in that announcement. The timing is completely irregular, it should never have happened. I would suspect that, certainly Labour councillors and the Labour Party in Plymouth would have liked that announcement by the government to have been a lot earlier. But ultimately, it's an announcement that shouldn't be taking place. The legislation is in place now. We can have the referendum, it was triggered appropriately by over 13,000 signatures on a petition and democracy should prevail. For the Labour Party to try to scrub out democracy as they’re trying to do in this referendum, and they constantly do at the city council is just completely out of order.”
With the referendum just days away, Cllr Nicholson says it boils down to one clear choice for the people of Plymouth. He said:
“As we approach the finale of the referendum campaign, it's a clear choice for the public.
“Do we continue with a system of a leader, elected by councillors, that continues to fail to deliver the huge prospects that Plymouth could have in the future, not just for us today, but for future generations. Or take a bold step and vote yes in the referendum for us to change the system, and to try and elect a leader who will unite Plymouth with a common agenda that will bring good for us all, hopefully maintain a pleasant environment but increase our wealth and prosperity from which all of us can benefit.
“It’s costing £410,000 and we might as well use the referendum to express our views and base our vote on the performance of the council. As a Plymouth born-and-bred councillor, I would urge all my fellow citizens to vote yes. Don't waste the opportunity to use your vote and make a difference on the 17th of July.”
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