Would Tynedale benefit from a regional mayor? 

A vast and disparate chunk of the country, this is a region where traditions and dialects change every 10 miles, from the particular pitmatic of the south-east to the soft Northumbrian burr of the rural west.

With this in mind the recent announcement that an elected mayor could be on the cards for the seven areas of the North East Combined Authority (NECA) may be a cause for concern in some quarters.

Leaders of the seven local authorities of Northumberland, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, County Durham, Sunderland, Newcastle City and Gateshead are beginning talks with the Government regarding the issue.

If they accept a regional mayor, Chancellor George Osborne has offered the combined councils enhanced powers over transport, health and housing.

This move is worlds away from the 2004 referendum in which the North-East rejected the idea of creating an elected regional assembly.

Chairman of NECA, Durham County Council leader Simon Henig, said: “We want to explore with Government the scope for a radical devolution deal for the North-East, with substantial devolution of powers and responsibilities.

“In parallel to this, we will consider with Government the most appropriate governance structures, including an elected mayor, to oversee those new powers.”

But what are the practical implications of a regional figurehead, answerable to the needs of residents in both industrial and agricultural economies, inner city and rural areas?

Hexham’s MP Guy Opperman has spoken in the House of Commons on the issue and says the North-East needs to consider the positive impact a mayor has had on London.

He said: “The Mayor of London has a multitude of diverse places, concerns, interests and people to look after across a huge land mass and a totally diverse landscape.

“The harsh reality is that whilst the North-East squabbles, Scotland is getting greater powers and the Labour-led local authorities of Greater Manchester, Yorkshire, Liverpool and elsewhere are pressing ahead and embracing the Government’s offer of devolution.

“Let us be clear: all the North-East businesses, the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, North East Chamber of Commerce, and a multitude of other organisations see the force in uniting transport, health and a large number of regional services, in an integrated manner, under the ultimate control of a directly-elected mayor.

“I fear that delays would mean the North-East is shunted to the back of the queue.

“The fundamental issue is this: our local council leaders must understand there is no such thing as standing still. There is no status quo.

“If our council leaders in the North-East decide to hang back, decide they would rather prolong discussions for political effect, then that will be a sad day for the region.

“This is an opportunity they must grasp to put our region at the front of the queue for more jobs, more training, more investment and more power.

“The people of the North-East need our council leaders to put politics to one side and to seize this ambitious and exciting future.

“If they don’t, they risk leaving the North-East at the back of the queue for decades to come.”

But from other quarters has come concern and scepticism as to whether the idea could work in the North-East.

Northumberland county councillor for Bywell ward, Paul Kelly, is concerned that a regional mayor could lend itself to further state privatisation.

He said: “The role of the council is to provide local services on an objective basis; that has been undermined by the tendency this Government has towards privatising everything in sight.

“We have seen the tendency towards the privatisation of the health service and if it weren’t for the public outcry that would have been privatised even though in terms of performance per pound it outstrips every other health service in the world.

“Having a mayor would be a means of introducing private finance into the public realm because one assumes that an elected mayor would be separate from politics but deeply given over to private finances.

“The imposition of a mayor on all seven councils of this piece of the North-East has to be treated with great suspicion and we know that the business community is very keen on us having a mayor because they would like to have more power.

“Also any mayor would have a limited background and will not necessarily understand all of the issues in all parts of the region.

“As a mayor you’ve simply got to have a certain amount of local knowledge in order to make these things work.

“I’ve promoted mayors for smaller settlements but when you’re talking about a larger area like a region I don’t think it would work as well.”

This sentiment is echoed by county councillor for Prudhoe South, Tony Reid, who feels that there has been no public demand for a mayor.

He said: “We spent a lot of time in the General Election knocking on people’s doors and I didn’t come across any mention that we should have a regional mayor for the North-East.

“And sometimes with politicians from the south, they don’t think of the North-East as a whole. They think of Newcastle – they’ve got it in their mind that Newcastle is the North-East.

“So any mayor trying to take into consideration all the cultures of the North-East will have a difficult task.

“And in a rural area there’s always the view that the urban areas call the shots, so people of Tynedalewill need a lot of persuasion that this is a good idea.

“I feel as if this idea is being presented as a mask to hide the fact that there are going to be more significant budget cuts. They have put this out as a front to somehow say they’re doing something to regenerate the North but at the same time cutting money to such an extent that whatever system is in operation will really struggle.

“And it would also depend on getting the right person and at this stage I don’t know who would come out of the woodwork to promote it.

“We have until September to decide and I think we need more information than is available at the moment.”