The widespread rejection of elected city mayors is a spanner in the works for the government’s localism agenda

Ministerial proposals to establish elected city mayors in England date back to the early 1990s, but have struggled to gain traction, despite Tony Blair’s support for the idea. Stuart Wilks-Heeg argues that Thursday’s referendums underline that supporters of elected mayors, including the government, have failed to make a persuasive case. A likely lack of public enthusiasm for Police and Crime Commissioner elections later this year will make elected mayors an even harder sell.