Letter: I Hope ‘Elected Mayor Petition’ is Withdrawn

Published on: 29 Apr, 2016
Updated on: 29 Apr, 2016

From Graham Moore

I hope that all Guildford Borough councillors will now put pressure on Ms Juneja and Mr Mansbridge to withdraw their petition for a referendum on whether Guildford should have an elected mayor.

It is interesting to note that throughout the UK only 51 towns and cities have have held referendums for having an elected mayor. Of these, 35 ballots have rejected the idea and only 16 have agreed.

Of the 16, two, Stoke and Hartlepool, have since held referendums to end elected mayor governance.

Clearly very few voters wish to adopt a system that would give excessive power to one person. As Lord Acton said: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

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