Tories back directly-elected lord provosts to oversee multi-billion city deals
ballot box: “The model we need is city regions and we need directly-elected provosts for city regions. There is nothing like the transparency and accountability around it, [which] there would be if there was a single point person whose principal function would be to be the senior executive in charge of the successful delivery of a £1bn investment.”
He said he supported the Scottish Parliament passing enabling legislation for elected lord provosts, which would be followed by four pilots in greater Glasgow, Edinburgh & Lothians, Tayside, as well as Aberdeen & Shire.
“We need somebody to be a champion [for these regions], or a tsar, which is a very Blairite word. Somebody who can stand up to Nicola Sturgeon and Derek Mackay on the one hand, and Theresa May and Philip Hammond on the other hand, and demand resources and respect.”
Although he said that Burnham, a Labour politician, is “not so much to my taste”, he added: “If you listen to Radio 4, when there is a Manchester story, you don’t get a Manchester MP interviewed, you get Andy Burnham.
“I like the fact that Westminster and Whitehall are no longer the sole epicentres of British politics. You can make a career for yourself outside of the Westminster bubble. Ruth [Davidson] is a great example of that, as is of course Nicola. So will these mayors be, if they are successful.”
He said the relationship between councils and elected provosts would have to be “worked out”, but said local authorities would not be replaced: “I am not in favour of creating another tier of government.” Tomkins added that the pilot projects could last for five to 10 years: “If it didn’t work, get rid of it.”
A spokesperson for Cosla, the umbrella group for councils, said: “The Review of Local Governance is currently inviting ideas about decision-making across all public services in Scotland, and about how powers can be shared between national and local government and communities. All proposals are welcome as part of that process.”