Plea for Devon to have first Burnham speech mayor

Devon should be the first area in England to get a new directly-elected mayor, according to the leader of Devon County Council.

Leader Julian Brazil is making a plea to Andy Burnham, the Labour MP who is bidding to take over from Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister.

Burnham put devolution of power from Westminster to the regions at the heart of his message in a major speech on Monday, including giving mayors more power.

Brazil, a Liberal Democrat, said Devon was "ready to go" for possible mayoral elections in May 2027, and having a mayor for Devon would bring more money into the county and more local control of where money was spent.

He said: "We want to have a mayor because we understand that's how we're going to get the funding, that's how we're going to get the powers to deliver what we want to do for our local community.

"So we're really excited about that and, if he wants a quick win in the South West, we're here, we're ready to go - let's crack on and do it."

The leader of the separate unitary authority Torbay Council, David Thomas, Conservative, said he also wanted to see a directly-elected mayor for Devon, and Plymouth City Council leader Tudor Evans also previously backed the plan.

Thomas added that this "may be the best opportunity" to bring forward a regional mayor for Devon and Cornwall.

Councillors in Cornwall have repeatedly made it clear they want devolution but do not want a joint mayor for the two counties.

The country is already in the middle of the biggest shake-up of local government for more than 50 years with all district and county councils being abolished.

Competing plans have been put forward for how Devon should be carved up in the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) programme, with a final decision to be made by the government at some point in July.

The plans include the possibility of Plymouth taking over parts of Dartmoor and the South Hams, and Exeter expanding to take in towns such as Crediton and Exmouth.

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