HAS its time come at last?

It has been almost a decade since this paper first put forward the suggestion that Southampton should move to an elected mayor as a form of local government.

Since then the support for such a scheme to replace the present Cabinet system for Southampton City Council has waxed and waned.

In 2010, when the matter was put to a vote at the council, only two elected members were in favour. In a public consultation only 25 residents bothered to respond, with 15 in favour. Not surprisingly the idea was shelved. Now as this paper reports today, the idea of an elected leader for the city as opposed to one appointed by whichever party is in power has gained the support of the main parties.

It is more than likely that we will see an elected mayor along the lines of Boris Johnson or Ken Livingstone here in our city.

And, we would say, not before time.

Local politics is at a crossroads following the Scottish referendum on independence and renewed interest in the devolution of powers to local authorities. We will need strong characters to drive through change and take advantage of new powers given to the city. And the people should have a say in choosing such a leader.

This paper then continues to support the idea of an elected mayor. His or her time has indeed arrived.