Mike Whitby, the leader of Birmingham Council’s Conservative/Lib Dem coalition, has been criticised for dithering over calls for a referendum to test public support for an elected mayor. The noisiest proponent of a referendum has been the city’s Labour leader (one former leader of the council) Sir Albert Bore. Yesterday he said “a bandwagon had started rolling in support of a referendum”. If this bandwagon exists outside his own imagination, Cllr Bore has not hesitated to jump on board. Bore must know that voter apathy would ensure a low turnout allowing activists to heavily influence the result and for him to get his way. Perhaps Bore sees himself as Birmingham’s answer to Ken Livingston.
It’s therefore not surprising that Mike Whitby is dithering over a referendum, apparently failing to answer calls from the local press. In the past Cllr Whitby has expressed his concern that an elected mayor would achieve nothing more than what is already in place. Perhaps Whitby should expose Cllr Bore’s self serving opportunism.
