North Tyneside to hold referendum on elected mayors

Elected Mayor Norma Redfearn Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

Voters in North Tyneside are to be asked if they want the council to continueto be run by an Elected Mayor or by an alternative system.

At a meeting of the full council last night (Thursday) councillors agreed that a referendum should be held on May 5, the same day as local council and Police and Crime Commissioner elections.

Voters will have two choices:

  • stay with the current Elected Mayor and Cabinet Model

  • change to committee system (with a leader) where decisions are taken by committees comprising of members from all political groups.

If the voters decide to remove Elected Mayors then the system will stop at the end of the current term of office in May 2017.

If the outcome is to support the current system the next Mayoral election will take place on 4 May 2017.

Welcoming the announcement, Elected Mayor Norma Redfearn said: