A former MP has hit out at the Government and Plymouth’s Labour Party for trying to change the rules over whether the city should be run by a directly elected Mayor.
Johnny Mercer, who was Conservative MP for Moor View from 2015 to 2024, said Tudor Evans and the Labour Party are doing everything they can to stop Plymouth people having a voice, and that residents must fight for their democracy by voting at this month’s referendum. He said:
“They are trying to take away your voice and that's more important than anything. They're doing everything to stop Plymouth having a voice. Politicians who are supposed to serve the public are trying to change the rules. It'd be quite extraordinary if the people of Plymouth wanted a Mayor and those who supposedly get up in the morning to serve them, decided that they knew better and that local people were not going to have their say.”
“I believe in democracy, and I've always believed that Plymouth deserves better than it currently gets.”
On Thursday, 17th July, you can help preserve democracy by voting in your Plymouth referendum for a Mayor.
On July 17 a referendum will take place to decide how Plymouth will be governed. Residents can choose to vote Yes for a system where the city has a directly elected Mayor, chosen by the people and who will be directly accountable to their citizens.
Or they can choose for it to remain the same in a model with a Council leader voted by other councillors.
Under current law the referendum will go ahead after being triggered by thousands of residents signing a petition. Despite the Minister for Local Government last month announcing that no new city mayors would be created, and saying any election of a Mayor would be delayed from May 2026 to May 2027 - a move that is not possible under existing legislation and would require the Government to push through a new law in a bid to stop it, should the people of Plymouth vote for a directly elected leader.
Today former Minister of State for Veterans, Mr Mercer, said those currently in charge are incapable of running an organisation at a level required to ‘meet the challenges in modern Plymouth’, that the city deserves better and could thrive with someone leading it who is truly accountable. He said:
"This is a mechanism for getting someone who is truly accountable to the people of Plymouth and who will produce a more honest outcome in terms of political representation than the model we currently have, which is essentially a stitch up between a very small group of people, who in my view, haven't served the city particularly well over the last 30 years
“I believe in democracy, I've always believed that Plymouth deserves better than it currently gets. The same people have been involved in Plymouth politics for the last 30 years. So there really is no one else left to blame.
“One of the reasons that this really piqued my interest was how upset Tudor Evans and local Labour politicians were about the idea of having a democratically elected mayor. The truth is around 1,300 people vote for Tudor Evans in a city of almost 270,000 and that's not really democracy.”
“If we had a directly elected Mayor it would be different because you have real genuine accountability. The only people who could eject Tudor Evans at the moment are the 30% of people who bothered to vote in Ham Ward during an election and his coterie of councillors, who he's endlessly promising jobs to, to keep them on side. That’s not democracy, that’s a kind of ‘chumocracy’.”
Mr Mercer said a directly elected Mayor would be someone with energy and vision for Plymouth and could hold the local authority to account. He said:
“I want to see someone who is genuinely accountable for living standards, child poverty, and school standards. You need the powers of persuasion and the powers of accountability and the powers of transparency to change these things. It's having someone with the energy and the vision for Plymouth who's really going to hold the local authority to account on behalf of the people of Plymouth and that simply doesn't happen at the moment. There's that lack of accountability for the local authority. That's the key part that needs to be challenged.”
He said the Labour Party and Government’s announcement last month was ‘just political machinations’ and that Plymouth was not a ‘plaything’ for those in power.
He added:
“About the same time as the announcement, Tudor Evans posted online a picture of him having a pint in a pub in London - it says it all really. Like Plymouth is their petrie dish for all their silly ideas. Plymouth is not a plaything for people like that. There's good, hard working people here who deserve the best life chances as much as anybody else.
“They put it out 15 days before, when the deadline is 16 days, to make any changes, and obviously just before the referendum. It's all just political machinations. Labour clearly are worried that Plymouth will vote for an elected Mayor.
“They're doing everything to stop Plymouth having a voice and I think that's terrible, I believe in democracy and I believe in proper representation. I think it's a very poor move and has inspired me to make an intervention, because I don't think it's fair. If people want a Mayor, they should have a Mayor.”
Mr Mercer said he believes in the mayoral system and that it would be hard for the Government to go against the wishes of Plymouth people if they vote Yes in the referendum. He said:
“At the end of the day the Government sets the rules, but they have to be voted in and out, and it's very hard for a Government to go against the democratic will of the people. Democracy rules and if people are going to vote for it, I think it would be very difficult for the Labour Government to say no to any source of mayoralty in Plymouth. There's clearly a case for it to be challenged if that's what people in Plymouth vote for.
“It's quite extraordinary that politicians who are supposed to serve the public are trying to change the rules. You're basically there to serve the public. That's what I saw as my job, to serve the public whether I agreed with them or not. It would be quite extraordinary if residents wanted a Mayor and those who supposedly get up in the morning to serve the people of Plymouth, decided that they knew better and that local people were not going to have their say.”
Mr Mercer is now urging residents to use their vote at the referendum on July 17 and to not let Labour silence them He said:
“My message is to get out and vote for it. If you don't want it, then vote against it, if you want it, vote for it. Don’t disengage in politics, as it gives you absolutely no credibility to moan about it whatsoever.
“People are trying to take away your voice and that's more important than anything. It's like people who don't agree with free speech, you might not agree with them, but you'll always defend their right to say it. Just make sure you get out and vote and I think to be honest, people will vote for a mayor.”
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