Whether you call them a mayor or a leader, putting more power in one person’s hands won’t fix Plymouth’s problems. Councillor Lauren McLay outlines a different path forward for our city – one rooted in our communities, not in power.
Whichever way Thursday’s mayoral referendum goes, Plymouth is being asked to believe that one person can save our city.
One person can’t fix the fact that one in four children here grows up in poverty. One person can’t fix our homes — which are the dampest and mouldiest in the UK. One person can’t fix our crises in social care, SEND education, or our homelessness epidemic — nor can they independently forge local solutions to the climate and nature crisis.
Our problems are many, and we are undoubtedly being failed. But this failure cannot, and will not, be fixed by one person. Whether Plymouth chooses to remain with the strong leader model, or move to a city mayor, both result in power being in the hands of an elite few, as it always has been.
The real question should be: how do we build a better, fairer, more democratic, more accountable system for Plymouth? The answer to that, for me, is not a mayor, nor is it staying as we are.
The choice you aren’t being given on Thursday is the committee system. This model would give you a proper say in how our city is run and unlock more transparent and collaborative ways of working. It’s a system where community groups, citizens’ assemblies, local experts and service users would feed directly into committees in which all councillors, elected by every corner of this city, would work together openly to share decision-making power, informed by your views. It’s a model rooted in listening, participation, trust, and local knowledge and, when done correctly, could restore much-needed faith in how decisions are made.
So where does this leave my vote on Thursday? I will be voting no to a mayor, not because I am defending the current system (clearly!), but because I believe Plymouth deserves better than centralised power, another layer of bureaucracy, another politician’s inflated salary, and less scrutiny over the decisions that affect us all.
I’ll also continue to advocate for Westminster to empower local communities. I was angered to hear that the government plans to abolish alternative governance models, namely city mayors and committee systems. This to me shows Labour’s true colours — they won’t share power or listen to anyone but themselves and are unwilling to trust communities to lead. Taking away decisions on how citizens want their cities to run is reckless and undemocratic. I absolutely support the legitimacy of this referendum and call on the government to respect the outcome, whichever path Plymouth decides to take.
Ultimately, this referendum boils down to one word: power. It’s been held in the hands of too few for far too long. In many ways it feels as though this campaign is a sticking plaster for a long-term problem — a change of one face in our city’s entrenched leadership. There are better ways to bring about this change.
If you’d like to be a part of building a different future for Plymouth, one that is more accountable, equal and shared – welcome. Our work will only get more important after Thursday’s result.
Councillor Lauren McLay
Leader of the Green Group on Plymouth City Council