LETTER: Elected mayor experiment has failed

I agree that we should all use our votes to show our take on political matters.

I wouldn’t ever encourage anyone to spoil their ballot papers but I can understand why some people would do so in order to send a message to politicians that they were not happy! This is particularly the case regarding the election for a new mayor.

The vast majority of people I speak to are not in favour of continuing to having this type of civic leader. It was worth trying out this idea but in my opinion the experiment has not been a success.

I do not think that having an executive mayor has been value for money, nothing personal about Mr Egginton, but Mansfield Council only provides a few public services.

It was a great pity that the role of honorary annually-elected civic mayor was done away with in Mansfield some 40 years ago. I note that Nottingham City has continued to have this type of mayor throughout this period as have our neighbours in Gedling.

It is often said that local politicians in Mansfield follow the example of our local big city. It’s a pity they decided not to do on this occasion!

I certainly will be casting my votes in the spring after carefully studying the election promises of all the political parties.

Just a thought, perhaps whoever is elected as our new mayor will then think about formally consulting with voters about whether the post ought to be done away with!

David Stafford

Berry Hill Road, Mansfield

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Is the role of elected mayor one we should keep and expand - or just ditch?

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