What A Difference A Mayor Makes A Case Study Of The Liverpool Mayoral Model

Headlam, Nicola; Hepburn, Paul

Abstract

The city region devolution deals have ushered Directly Elected Mayors (DEMs) to the front and centre of the political and governance landscape within English metropolitan regions in the UK. DEMs are invested with high expecta- tions to deliver a range of beneficial urban outcomes. Yet, there is little empirical evidence on the how such Mayoral leadership might act differently to other types of civic leadership to bring about these outcomes. This paper through the deployment of an innovative methodology, a diary analysis, examines how different this leadership model is when compared to its immediate predecessor; the council leader. It finds that the new Mayoral role is less about ‘city management’ and more about ‘city representation’ particu- larly on the national and international political stage. The paper concludes that this has implications for resourcing this particular leadership model and for the wider research agenda into political and executive leadership of our cities.

Citation

Headlam, N., & Hepburn, P. (2017). What A Difference A Mayor Makes A Case Study Of The Liverpool Mayoral Model. Local Government Studies, 43(5), 731-751. https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2017.1333429

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jun 5, 2017
• Publication Date: Jul 5, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jan 17, 2024
• Journal: Local Government Studies
• Print ISSN: 0300-3930
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 43
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 731-751
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2017.1333429