Just one in three know the name of WM mayor
IS ELECTED LEADER FAILING TO MAKE HIS MARK?
JUST one in three people in the West Midlands say they can name the region’s mayor.
Our exclusive survey suggests mayor Andy Street is still struggling to make his mark following his election in May last year.
It found 33 per cent of people in the region said they could name the directly-elected mayor, while four out of ten people, 39 per cent, said they could not. On top of this, 28 per cent of people in the West Midlands, more than a quarter, said they were unsure.
The West Midlands mayor was one of a number of regional mayors created by the Government to provide high-profile leadership for new Combined Authorities in places such as the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
Ministers said mayors would allow funding and powers to be devolved to English regions, because they would be directly accountable to voters. Conservative Mr Street, former boss of John Lewis, was narrowly elected following a pitched battle with Labour candidate Sion Simon in 2017. But our poll, conducted using Google Consumer Surveys, found only 28 per cent of people in the West Midlands said they knew what the mayor was responsible for –while 39 per cent said they did not. Just 26 per cent said they would support control of NHS services and budgets being devolved to the directly-elected mayor, with 38 per cent opposed. And 31 per cent supported the idea of the mayor raising taxes to build more affordable housing, with 37 per cent opposing the idea. The good news for Mr Street is that 61 per cent of people in the region said they were aware that the West Midlands had a directly-elected mayor, while just nine per cent said they didn’t know the mayor existed. Perhaps Mr Street could learn a lesson from Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. A survey by the Manchester Evening News found that 65 per cent of people in Greater Manchester could name Mr Burnham, who had the advantage of being a senior national politician before taking on the mayor’s job.
A spokesperson for Mr Street said: “These results confirm there is still a great deal to do to improve understanding of the role of the Mayor. That’s probably no surprise after just six months, but there is clearly an opportunity to explain how high profile successes like the award of the Commonwealth Games and the investments in transport are linked to the Mayor.”
Mr Street last week revealed controversial plans to impose a £12-a-year precept on council tax bills for band D homes. The money will be spent on transport schemes and his office costs.
The announcement was criticised by Labour MP Liam Byrne. He said: “The Mayor’s new tax hike is piling on the pain for hard-pressed Midlands families.
“Mr Street promised to look everywhere before asking for new taxes. Now he’s been forced to raid local families because Theresa May’s Tories shortchanged the West Midlands and spent £1 billion on buying the votes of Northern Ireland’s DUP to prop up her shaky government.”
These results show there is still a great deal to do to improve understanding of the role of the Mayor. Spokesman for Andy Street