Richard Baum

The people of Bury voted “No” to an elected Mayor yesterday, rejecting the proposals by a 60:40 margin.

The final result was 15,425 votes “No” and 10,338 votes “Yes”, with a turnout of 18%.

Lib Dems in Bury campaigned hard for a “No” vote in the referendum, and I am glad that the idea of an elected Mayor has been rejected by local people. As I’ve been saying on here all week and elsewhere for ages, a Mayor would have been an expensive and democratically disastrous move for Bury.

The “Yes” campaign suggested that the voting for a Mayor would help defeat plans for a congestion charge. In reality the idea that a Mayor could stop the congestion charge was always false, and I always thought that local people wouldn’t believe it. Bury Lib Dems continue to oppose the congestion charge, and the Council is now free to continue working hard to get improved public transport for Bury without this additional tax.

It is a shame that the people behind the original petition cannot be brought to book for their half-truths and rumours - the effect of which has been an expensive and time-consuming referendum which has achieved nothing but keep some people’s faces in the papers.

I maintain that this referendum was never really wanted by the people of Bury, many of whom were tricked into signing a petition they thought was about something else. The massive rejection of an elected Mayor is a victory for common sense and a defeat for those who try to trick local people.

The issue of the Mayor was always about more than the congestion charge. A Mayor would have meant a less democratic system for local people, and would have cost a small fortune every year, taking money from vital services to pay for a vanity exercise.

The result last night has had several spin-off effects. On ths plus side, I can now stop writing about it, which is a relief. On the negative side though, I am regretting getting fitted up for those ermine robes now. I suppose they will have to go back now that we won’t be having a Mayor…

Rick