Give us a mayor like Boris or Ken

9:40pm Thursday 8th May 2008

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IT REMAINS to be seen, of course, whether or not Boris Johnson will make a good Mayor of London. I have mixed feelings about the aptitude of the Henley MP for such a role and I will be genuinely interested to see what happens.

But one thing is clear: the London mayoralty system works and should be adopted here in Bucks.

I've often said in this column that we should rip up the council structure in this area and start again. My critics have complained I am too destructively negative and that I do not offer any solutions or alternatives.

Well, the London model is an alternative. It's far from perfect but it is democratic. Londoners knew exactly what they were getting with Ken Livingstone and they gave him the best part of a decade. Love him or loathe him, he was transparent. You knew who to praise; you knew who to blame.

Similarly, Boris will be the hero or the fall guy and his future prospects will be closely-aligned to the perceived performance of London in the next few years. Voters know exactly who to acclaim or who to throw rotten tomatoes at, and that can only be a good thing for a 21st century democracy.

However, Bucks' councils decided to adopt a slightly different model. They have cabinets and leaders. We know, for instance, David Shakespeare is the leader of the county council and Lesley Clarke is leader of Wycombe district.

But the sheer mass of councils leaves voters unclear as to who does what.

And then there is the multitude of cabinet titles, ie: Cabinet Member for Younger and Older People; Cabinet Member for Well-Being and Neighbourhoods: Cabinet Member for Achievement and Learning, etc etc. Whatever next - Portfolio Holder for Green and Healthy Eating?

Our local democracy is disappearing under a tide of jargon and confusing layers of bureaucracy.

It's a nightmare that maybe only an elected mayor can end.