Elected Mayor Will Give City the Strong Leadership It Needs; Political Parties Are Being Urged to Wake Up to the Probability That Birmingham Will Soon Be Governed by a Directly Elected Mayor and to Begin a Great Debate on the Issue, Reports Public Affairs Correspondent Paul Dale

Byline: Paul Dale

Lord Adonis, the former Schools Minister appointed by David Cameron to tour the country and find out what people think about having major cities run by directly elected mayors, doesn't mince his words when discussing Birmingham City Council's performance.

The council's record on delivering economic development and transportation is poor, the scale of unemployment is a disgrace and too many schools are badly under-performing, he contends. The city "desperately" needs leadership on these pressing issues, he believes.

Think how much better things would be if Birmingham were to be run by a powerful mayor with a direct mandate from the people. A person who would be able to hire cabinet members with real ability regardless of political leanings and sack lazy jobsworths. A man or woman with the ability and charisma to promote the city nationally and internationally - someone who would become as well …

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Publication information: Article title: Elected Mayor Will Give City the Strong Leadership It Needs; Political Parties Are Being Urged to Wake Up to the Probability That Birmingham Will Soon Be Governed by a Directly Elected Mayor and to Begin a Great Debate on the Issue, Reports Public Affairs Correspondent Paul Dale. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: The Birmingham Post (England). Publication date: February 3, 2011. Page number: 21. © 2009 Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd. COPYRIGHT 2011 Gale Group.

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