Nevermind “who” should be Mayor – what would a good Mayor of London actually look like?

Writers and readers of political blogs love a good gossip. Might Margaret Hodge run for London Mayor? Andrew Adonis or Stella Creasey? Oona King or Tessa Jowell?

The stories last week were harmless fun but didn’t ask the serious questions that we should be asking at this stage in the electoral cycle. The first phase in opposition, locally as nationally, should focus on the big ideas, not the big names. Ideas excite, energise and engage beyond the already committed. They are the foundation stones of a mass party and the building blocks for a great mayor.

In “The Metropolitan Revolution” published in the UK last week Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley argue that:

“Cities and metropolitan areas are action oriented.  They reward innovation, imagination, and pushing boundaries.  As networks of institutions they run businesses, provide services, educate children, train workers, build homes, and develop community.  They focus less on promulgating rules than on delivering the goods and using cultural norms rather than regulatory mandates to inspire best practice.  They reward leaders who push the envelope, catalyze action, and get stuff done.”

The UKs biggest directly elected mandate confers upon the office holder an exceptional visibility and capacity for convening. How might we reimagine the mayoralty to not only deliver on the core responsibilities – transport, policing, housing, planning, – but also on a bigger agenda.

In three years time the capital may at best be starting to emerge from prolonged recession. The public sector, and those who need it most, will be the last to recover. The next mayor will have limited responsibility for those services but will have the mayors super power – the  power of influence. For me a good mayor would do three things: Speak out, Pull together and Think bigger.

Speak out.

I am writing in Canning Town, a couple of miles from the financial heart of the fourth richest country in the world. A child born here today is half as likely to live to 75 as the average UK baby. The big poster targeting benefit fraud in the bus shelter over the road is not matched by one targeting tax evasion in the cab ranks of Canary wharf even though maximising tax revenue would make a far bigger difference to the exchequer.

London needs a leader who can inform public opinion and articulate a moral argument. A mayor who will listen to and speak for those whose voices are seldom heard and little understood. Do that well and we can change this city. More than that, see how Boris Johnson has deployed the bully pulpit to plague the prime minister and become the UKs most recognisable  politician.  Imagine how worthwhile that might have been if only he had something to say that was constructive, fair, progressive, healing, generous, collaborative, bold or inspiring.

Pull together

Our democratic structures, imperfectly but adequately, provide for governance that is representative and stable but what of day to day engagement and collaboration? How and where do our stakeholders come together, work together and project a shared narrative?

In Sicily Roberto Visentin, the Mayor of Siracusa, has created the “table for the future” – a multi stakeholder organization devoted first to building social cohesion and then to transforming Siracusa into “a modern European city”. The Table provides for ongoing collaboration on setting a shared vision and on identifying and managing projects where the goals are best achieved by working together.

Much of what matters in London isn’t managed by the Mayor but he or she should build the table and should lead the conversation.

Think bigger

London is a rich city.  Our resources are extraordinary but what is our collective vision, our extraordinary ground breaking contribution to the wider world, and who makes it happen?

Mayor Ramokgopa in Tshwane wants to make his home city a “model capital for Africa” and Mayor Estrosi  is turning Nice into “the most sustainable city in the Mediterranean”.  What might be our promise for London, big enough and bold enough to change lives, to galvanise us all and to become a beacon for the world?

What about “London, the world’s premier city for children”? Attacking child poverty would have to be a priority with an irresistible push on the living wage reinforced with incentives or sanctions. A varied package of support involving all the sectors might be developed for  children in their early years maybe adapting and adopting Hilary Clintons “Too small to fail” campaign or the Chicago Children’s Zone. The capitals advertising hoardings, particularly near schools and parks need stricter standards and its time that our children reclaimed our residential streets for the outdoor play and social interaction that has almost entirely disappeared from many of our neighborhoods. Residents might apply for designated Playstreets, free from traffic, every weekend. Tourists complain that London restaurants and hotels are less child friendly than those in other major cities. A mayor with a mission could turn around that perception in four years.

Alternatively a good Mayor might determine to lead the world in making London a city where mental illness and physical illness are treated the same. Most Londoners will experience mental illness, directly or as carers or friends, at some point in their lives yet most of us understand it very little and talk about it less. Mental health services are the Cinderella’s of the NHS, stigma doubles the burden of the sick,  and prejudice and discrimination, rooted in ignorance but unthinkable in other aspects of our lives, flourishes unchallenged. There would be a part to play for us all. Certainly the health service but also all employers, businesses, media, schools and other public agencies. Attitudes changed and actions begun with sufficient momentum in London  would not stop at the M25.

Disagree with these specifics by all means but these are the kind of ideas that we should be discussing at this time.  Lets unleash the powers of our imagination, push the boundaries of the possible and think about the mayoralty before we think about the mayor.