The dangers of a Cambridge-centric devolution
Although some prominent local politicians have announced their interest in becoming mayor of the new Cambridgeshire-Peterborough Combined Authority, it is still too early to say who is likely to win in May 2017.
However, what can be confidently predicted is that if candidates line up on party lines we shall end up with a Conservative mayor since the Conservatives are preponderant in most parts of the region. Such a prospect is not in itself something to be feared or opposed. A lot depends on who the Conservatives put up for mayor. Steve Count, currently leader of the county council, has considerable experience and significant qualifications to be mayor but Heidi Allen must surely have disqualified herself on the grounds that she seems to think that running a multi-million pound outfit can be done part-time and only after her duties as an MP have been discharged.
No matter who the Tories choose there are reasons to worry that one of their party could be the first directly elected mayor of the combined authority. Keep in mind that there are no district council elections next year, so we can pretty well predict from the make-up of the current participating councils who will be calling the tune and who will be dancing to it. Bear in mind, too, that the Tories' choice would have far greater influence than any alternative party rival over how the big money for infrastructure, housing, skills and all the rest is spent, since he or she would be supported by a mainly Conservative cabinet. Cambridge city, under a Labour administration, will be the only one of the seven councils in a position to appoint a non-Conservative cabinet member.
What Cambridge has to wake up to is that if a Tory mayor, heading a mainly Tory cabinet, is the outcome of next year's election we shall end up with an authority in essence similar to how the county council was run under a demagogic leader and a compliant cabinet before 2014. That does not augur well for the new authority, and it would be a particularly unfortunate outcome for Cambridge. Cambridge is the driver of the regional and, indeed, national economy and if the economic benefits of devolution are to be fully realised the city's infrastructure needs must be among the priorities of the new authority. True, the city will get £70million earmarked for housing but the £600million for long-term infrastructure will be up for grabs by every council in the region.
Cambridge does not have a single elected Tory councillor so the temptation to discount Cambridge's interests may be hard to resist by a Tory mayor anxious to bolster support in the rest of the region.
But there are real dangers in taking a too 'Cambridge-centric' approach to devolution. I have long argued that Cambridge's prosperity is under threat from an unbalanced regional economy. We can all see how Cambridge is already stressed by congestion, rocketing house prices, skill shortages and the breakdown of essential local services. Only by spreading the Cambridge economy beyond its narrow confines will we relieve those damaging pressures. Cambridge needs a prosperous Fenland as much as Fenland needs a prosperous Cambridge.
For all of these reasons I believe Cambridge should seek a consensual single mayoral candidate for the city and that discussions should begin without delay to find a person who could command the overwhelming support of city electors. If that city candidate keeps in mind the complementary interests of Cambridge, Peterborough and the rural areas of the county, and if that person can inspire people to turn out and vote in large numbers then I think that he or she has a good chance of being elected. I, for one, would vote for that person.
