POWERFUL elected mayors are set to be imposed on Leeds and Wakefield without voters having a say first, it was claimed Saturday.
Voters will only be asked if they think it is a good idea one or two years later once the mayors have "settled in" and started making decisions, according to a respected think-tank.
The Government is planning for the 12 largest English cities, inc
luding Leeds and Wakefield, to have so-called "directly elected mayors" in place by May 2012.
Last year, the Tories proposed referendums be held in each city BEFORE the introduction of local supremos.
However, the Department for Communities and Local Government's 18-month action plan now says that the cities will have mayors in place from May 2012, "subject to confirmatory referendums".
Dermot Finch, of the think-tank Centre for Cities, believes this means ministers may seek to create mayors first, then hold referendums AFTER they start work.
He told the YEP: "It looks like they will create the directly elected mayors first and have them confirmed later. It will be that way round, rather than having a referendum first."
A spokesman for Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles refused to deny the claims.
"We will set out more detail in due course. There is nothing more to say at this stage," he said.
Such a step would avoid a repeat of the embarrassing 'no' vote in the North East in 2004 which scuppered Labour's plans for directly elected regional assemblies.
But it would be hugely controversial and is likely to lead to the accusation that mayors are being foisted on cities.
A public consultation launched last year on whether Leeds should be run by an elected mayor attracted only a little over 700 responses.
Some 395 preferred an elected mayor and 324 went for a leader-cabinet arrangement, which is very similar to how the authority has been run since 2001.
Mr Finch has even questioned whether the Government plans to allow people to vote in 2012 on who they want as mayor.
He believes the leaders of councils like Leeds will simply switch overnight to become mayors with increased powers and then stay in post until their job is confirmed at the subsequent referendum.
"If you have an election, what would be the point of having a referendum?
"You do not elect someone and then have a referendum on whether they are doing a good job," he said.
Labour allowed referendums to be triggered on whether councils should be run directly by elected mayors but the results were mixed.
Londoners elected first Ken Livingstone and then Boris Johnson, but in Hartlepool, football club mascot H'Angus the monkey was elected.
And in Middlesbrough, former police Detective Superintendent Ray Mallon – famous for his zero-tolerance approach to crime – won as an Independent in 2002.
Elmet and Rothwell Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke, who is in favour of directly elected mayors, said: "As far as I was aware, the referendum would come first.
"I am all in favour of it but I still think you need a referendum – you do not want to impose it on people. "
Leeds West Labour MP Rachel Reeves said: "If the new Government really believes in localism they should allow local communities to decide when and if they want directly elected mayors."
