Plymouth City Council has published a Notice of Valid Petition which means a referendum for a Directly Elected City Mayor will go ahead later this year. A Plymouth Labour spokesperson said:  

“We all want to see Plymouth thrive – but this is a complete white elephant with no new powers or money.

“The Yes to DEM campaign is built on misinformation and false promises. They haven’t been honest about what services they would cut to pay for this or why they’re pushing a model that’s already failed elsewhere. This is a disastrous distraction from the real issues facing our city. Plymouth deserves better than being dragged into an expensive, pointless experiment.

“Instead of tackling the issues that matter – fixing our roads, improving services, and supporting communities – this £410,000 referendum and potential future costs will drain public funds on a failed idea that has been overwhelmingly rejected in many other parts of the country.

“Let’s be clear: this won’t create an ‘Andy Burnham-style’ mayor, which is an entirely different type of position with real devolved powers and funding. With a DEM, Plymouth would get no new money, no new powers – just an extra layer of bureaucracy. Meanwhile, Yes to DEM want to double the allowance of the person running the council to a whopping £80,000, all whilst hard-working taxpayers would be left footing the bill for two elections and a mayor’s office.”