rural mayors

Plans for new elected mayors announced in the Budget by the government should be abandoned, Conservatives have said.

Local councillors and some MPs say mayors for three rural parts of England will add an expensive and unwanted extra tier of government.

Councils could reject the idea and opt out of new authorities in Lincolnshire, the west of England and East Anglia, North Somerset MP Liam Fox said.

The government says it wants to help the local economy and devolve power.

Some Conservative councillors in the rural areas intend to try to block the policy, which will not be imposed on unwilling areas.

In his Budget in March, Chancellor George Osborne announced plans for elected mayors in the three areas.

Local authorities will vote on whether or not to accept detailed proposals by the end of June.

North West Norfolk MP Sir Henry Bellingham, said people would feel no affinity to a new authority and elections for a new mayor would attract a “pathetic” turnout.

He told the Today programme on Radio 4: “Now I don’t want a regional leader coming along and saying look ‘Henry you’ve been a bad boy, I gather you don’t want this incinerator, you don’t want these houses, well actually the region do want it and I’d like you to have it’.

“That is going to put MPs in a very difficult position and change their constitutional position.”

While he supported the idea of devolution, he said plans for a new mayor should be put on hold.

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said it was making “huge progress” in making local areas more powerful by devolving power from Whitehall.

A source close to the chancellor said: “The devolution revolution taking place across the country has unstoppable momentum behind it.”

Six new authorities, which will have elected mayors, have been established in mainly urban areas, with another expected this summer.

Conservative sceptics argue the plans will not work in rural areas.