Did Clarke go too far with ‘greatest decentralisation’?

YOU know the quokka – the world’s most-smiling animal? It’s a Western Australian kind of cat/rat marsupial, seasonally threatened by wildfires, but apparently the grinning star of a thousand selfies.

Well, until last week, English local government was blessed with Britain’s both tallest and most-smiling minister, Simon Clarke.

Check Google images, official portrait, Twitter. Not just smiling, but apparently enjoying-this-whole-politics-business smiling.

Which made it slightly sad learning of his resignation, although in the BBC’s possibly ill-chosen library photo he himself looks positively thrilled. His letter to the PM cited “purely personal reasons”, so, if distressing circumstances are involved, one must obviously sympathise.

However, there are some “things”. First, the suddenness of his resignation. Second, Clarke’s centrality to the Government’s radical Devolution and Recovery White Paper – mentioned in this column just last week and already overdue.

But where, you’re wondering, is the “Was he pushed?” conspiracy theory. That’s Thing No. 3.

Last week’s Local Government Chronicle recalled Clarke’s “groundbreaking” July speech to a Northern Powerhouse audience promising “a road map for establishing a series of new mayors within the next ten years – representing the greatest decentralisation of power in our modern history.” Details in September’s White Paper. The speech duly appeared on the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government website... then suddenly disappeared.

A manifestly crass tactic, guaranteeing immensely greater interest and speculation than it initially attracted.

Happily, therefore, the Chronicle could satisfy this enhanced curiosity by publishing the full speech on its website.

Which means, if any pushing from No 10 were involved in Clarke’s resignation, we can at least speculate about possible prompts.

“A new deal for the North”? A £5 billion “New Deal”, rebuilding public infrastructure, creating thousands of new jobs, helping our regions “build back and bounce forward” – no, that rallying vagueness is almost straight Boris.

“New mayoral devolution”? “Responsible and effective mayors representing 100% of the north of England”.

Again, Johnson playbook stuff. He proved Londoners would elect a Conservative mayor, despite most boroughs being Labour-run, as have Andy Street in the West Midlands and Ben Houchen in Tees Valley. Remember in December how voters in those North and Midlands “red wall” – now “blue wall” – constituencies elected Conservative MPs for the first time?

They should have a similar chance next April to elect a Conservative metro mayor in the new but traditionally very Labour West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

This is the Government’s apparent strategy: abolishing – sorry, combining – large numbers of already big city, borough and district councils into, by any traditional and international standards, huge unitary “combined authorities” headed by directly elected and hopefully Conservative mayors, thereby simultaneously saving money and providing more “streamlined”, if hardly local, government.

However, at least three possible questions.

One: why the apparent rush, midCovid? Two: what about all those Conservative district councillors losing their seats?

Three, was Clarke going just a smidgeon too far for Johnson/Cummings with “the greatest decentralisation of power in our modern history”?

Chris Game, Institute of Local Government Studies, University of

Birmingham