Local politicians take the party affiliation of directly elected mayors into account when forming coalitions

The UK now has a number of Directly Elected Local Authority Mayors, as well as the elected Mayor of London. But the extra layer of governance (and accountability) has implications for coalition formation at the local level. Drawing on research carried out in Germany, Martin Gross and Marc Debus argue that local politicians take the party affiliation of directly elected mayors into account when forming coalitions at the local level.