Mayoral Council
Mayoral Council | |
|---|---|
 First meeting of the Mayoral Council in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 10 October 2024 | |
| Type | |
| Type | Forum for the regional mayors of England |
| History | |
| Founded | 10 October 2024 |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 13 |
Political groups |
|
| This article is part of a series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the |
 |
|---|
The Mayoral Council, also known as the Council of Mayors,[1][2] is a political body in England that brings together ministers from the UK Government, the Mayor of London, and combined authority mayors.[3][4]
Background
[edit]David Cameron's proposed English Cabinet of Mayors
[edit]UK prime minister David Cameron proposed in 2012 that England's combined authority mayors and the mayor of London sit within an "English Cabinet of Mayors", giving them the opportunity to share ideas and represent their regions at English national level. This proposed cabinet of mayors would have been chaired by the prime minister and meet at least twice a year.[5][6] However, no action was taken to form such a body.
Gordon Brown's proposed Council of England
[edit]Plans for a "Council of England" featured in a 2022 Labour Party report on constitutional reform by Gordon Brown titled A New Britain: Renewing our Democracy and Rebuilding our Economy.[7] The proposed council would be chaired by the prime minister and would include leaders of combined authorities, the mayor of London, representatives of local government and other stakeholders in England. The proposed council bears similarity to the Council for Wales and Monmouthshire (1949-1966) and the Partnership Council for Wales (2006-present) which also brought together representatives of local government and other stakeholders.
Brown also proposed that the Mayor of London and combined authority mayors should sit within a wider "Council of the Nations and Regions", also including the leaders of the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Establishment of the Mayoral Council
[edit]Following Labour's victory in the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the new prime minister Keir Starmer informally met England's combined authority mayors and the mayor of London on 9 July.[8][9] The first formal meeting of the Mayoral Council, chaired by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, took place on 10 October 2024 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the council is expected to meet on a quarterly basis. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it set up the Mayoral Council to "strengthen the relationships between central government and the mayors" ahead of publishing a white paper on devolution.[3][10][11] The first meeting of the Council of the Nations and Regions, which also included leaders of England's combined authorities, took place the following day.
Unlike the proposed "Council of England", the Mayoral Council does not include local government representatives in areas without a mayoral combined authority, or other stakeholders. However, at the 2024 Labour Party Conference, Labour reiterated its commitment to English devolution, saying that all areas of England "should eventually be covered by mayoral devolution", which would mean all areas of England would eventually be represented on the Mayoral Council.[12]
Membership
[edit]The membership of the Mayoral Council is currently as follows:
The membership of the council will increase as new mayoral combined authorities are established.
Meetings
[edit]An unofficial meeting of mayors was held in July 2024 and the first formal meeting of the council took place in October 2024. The council is expected to meet four times a year.[10]
| Meetings of the Mayoral Council | |
|---|---|
| Date | Location |
| 9 July 2024 (unofficial) | 10 Downing Street, Westminster |
| 10 October 2024 | The Common Room, Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
See also
[edit]- Council of the Nations and Regions
- Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution
- Governance of England
- Politics of England
- Devolved English parliament
References
[edit]- ^ https://www.flickr.com/photos/mhclggovuk/albums/72177720321076838/
- ^ https://www.themj.co.uk/relationship-reset
- ^ a b "Deputy Prime Minister launches first-ever Mayoral Council". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
- ^ https://governmentbusiness.co.uk/news/11102024/mayoral-council-meets-discuss-devolution
- ^ "Mayoral referendums: The mayors of the twinned cities". BBC News. 19 April 2012.
- ^ "Rival campaigns fight over directly-elected mayors in England". BBC News. 12 April 2012.
- ^ Mason, Rowena; Brooks, Libby (4 December 2022). "Labour unveils plan to overhaul constitution and replace the Lords". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
- ^ https://www.gov.uk/government/news/devolution-delivery-for-first-mayoral-meeting
- ^ "UK politics live: Keir Starmer departs for Nato summit after making first speech to Parliament as PM". BBC News. 9 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Rayner launches Mayoral Council | Local Government Chronicle (LGC)". lgcplus.com. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
- ^ https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/mayor-defends-labour-devolution-plans-30116088?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm
- ^ White, Hannah; Thomas, Alex; Tetlow, Gemma; Pope, Thomas; Davies, Nick; Davison, Nehal; Metcalfe, Sophie; Paun, Akash (26 September 2024). "Seven things we learned from the Labour Party Conference 2024". Institute for Government. Archived from the original on 2 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
| Devolved areas |
| ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Referendums1 | |||||||||||||
| Heads of devolved governments | |||||||||||||
| Devolved legislatures2 | |||||||||||||
| Devolved administrations3 | |||||||||||||
| Organisations and laws of the legislatures and governments of the UK and the devolved areas |
| ||||||||||||
| Elections | |||||||||||||
| Related articles |
| ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
