Voting in the great Darlington Mayoral Referendum is under way. A rare opportunity for voters to directly influence the way they are governed. By 8.10am, when I cast my "no" vote at St Augustine's Parish Centre (scene of some great STARS pantomimes over the years) just two other people had voted. This in an area with a traditional high turnout.
Friends from Stockton tell me the various independent groups on their Council, including a bunch of renegade Lib Dems who were happy to be supported by the party in order to get themselves elected, are banding together to call for a similar referendum in their fair borough. If this goes through, it would mean all four local authorities in the Tees Valley would have held referendums for a directly-elected mayor, and, depending on the results, could all have such mayors within a year.
1 comment:
Don't forget Redcar and Cleveland Mike. We might be out on the periphery but we are also in the Tees Valley organisation.
There has not yet been a referendum here yet. I understand that an attempt to collect signatures by an independent group ran out of steam due to the unwilliness of residents to sign the petition.
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