Plymouth votes 'No' to elected city mayor

PLYMOUTH has voted against having a directly elected mayor. With a turnout of just 19.11%, and after hours of counting, it was revealed at about 1am yesterday that 19,840 people had voted for Plymouth City Council to remain run by a leader and cabinet with 18,044 people voting for it to come under the control of a directly elected mayor.

- By WILLIAM TELFORD

The 'A Mayor for Plymouth' team, which had campaigned for the change, was left dismayed, with Angus Forbes, the businessman who led the campaign, saying: "Democracy has been trampled on".

He said it was a "sad day" and complained that moves to stop new city mayors had led people to believe the referendum was "cancelled".

But the 'Plymouth Knows Better' team, which had fought to retain the current system, was jubilant.

Charlotte Holloway, the Labour councillor who represented the campaign at the count, said: "Plymouth really does know better. People saw straight through this failed, costly experiment and they made that known at the ballot box."

She called on Mr Forbes, who had gathered more than 13,000 signatures on a petition to trigger the referendum, to refund the £410,000 cost, and said: "Plymouth has sent a clear message. We call on Mr Forbes to take responsibility for this folly, and foot the bill for this vanity project so Plymouth gets its money back."

One hundred and eleven polling stations opened across Plymouth at 7am on July 17, and closed at 10pm. At just 10.11pm, the first ballot box arrived at the Life Centre, in Central Park, where the count took place. The results were announced three hours later.

The turnout was low, just 19.11%, equating to 38,015, from the 198,932 people who were eligible to vote.

The cost of the referendum was seized on by the Plymouth Knows Better team and others opposed to the change.

Cllr Holloway said: "This referendum was always a waste of time and public money. Voter turnout was one of the lowest Plymouth has ever seen not because people didn't care, but because they knew it was pointless."