Clause 13
Greater London Authority Bill
4:30 pm
Michael Gove (Shadow Minister (Housing), Communities and Local Government; Surrey Heath, Conservative)
I have more than 50 per cent. of the vote in Surrey Heath and the Minister for Housing and Planning had considerably more than 50 per cent. of the vote in her constituency. Many of us enjoy a mandate that would allow us to sit in this House under any voting system. I take the hon. Gentleman’s point that by dint of the voting system by which he or she is elected the Mayor enjoys, in effect, the confidence of50 per cent. of those voting, but no Mayor has won outright on the first ballot, and I suspect that no Mayor will do so in the future. The system that we have chosen for the election of the Mayor allows someone to cast a second or even a third vote for whoever they consider to be second or third among all the evils.
I appreciate that the freedom that the voting system gives to people to express a second or third preference means that in some respects the Mayor has a better mandate than some other elected representatives in this country, but the GLA was set up to recognise that the Mayor has a strong mandate, but so does the London assembly. They have mandates of equal validity.
The changes that we seek to make will ensure that the assembly’s voice in shaping the budget is enhanced; it will not be just one party in the assembly that can exercise disproportionate power, if it happens to be in alliance with the Mayor, over the shape of the budget, but at least two parties representing a majority of London voters.