Why do we even have a mayor and a PCC?
I WAS writing a letter of great importance to the Leicester Mercury, but I’ll complete that and send it another day.
Far more pressing is Gordon Goode’s take on one man, one vote (“Mayor: A democracy? Or is it a dictatorship?”) and Dr Andrew Golland’s response towards a previous pro-Tory correspondent (“You shouldn’t snipe without giving facts”, both Mailbox, May 2).
Mr Goode hits the nail on the head by questioning whether the mayor of Leicester is a democrat or a dictator.
Isn’t it about time he hung up his boots as he approaches 76 (unlike Vardy who, at 37, achieves great things in his boots)?
Sir Peter, give yourself a Christmas birthday gift for December 27 and retire, and make this the best gift ever to the populace of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
Metaphorically, by blocking the East Midlands mayoral aspirations, Soulsby is giving the finger to the voting people of Leicester and the East Midlands.
Surely he must see the writing on the wall. Pop-up bicycle lanes surely can’t be the pinnacle of a failing mayor’s legacy?
Of course, we shouldn’t have had these regional and local mayors foisted upon us in the first place; neither should we have had police and crime commissioners (PCCs) imposed on the electorate.
Now they’re here, they’re just another tier of politicians that we have to pay for.
Rupert Matthews (the PCC) may have put a few Dixon of Dock Green blue lamps around the place, but I’d say you could count on one finger the substantial achievements of his time in post.
Meanwhile, Dr Golland excludes the great achievements of Thatcher and her government because, I am guessing, he would rather choke on his Ed Miliband bacon sandwich than cite her name and recognise her great successes.
Yet he dismisses any criticism of the Blair years and doesn’t dare mention the disastrous Brown administration.
Hopefully, by the time you read this, we will have a new, innovative and dynamic PCC. But I won’t hold my breath.
And please tell me when we will have a chance to vote to replace or, better yet, abolish the Leicester mayor!
Kevin Cole, Stoney Stanton Mailbox ed’s note: Leicester’s mayoral elections take place every four years, in early May. Sir Peter won the last one, in May 2023, with just under 40 per cent of the vote, and the next scheduled election is therefore due in May 2027.