New Clause 3
Greater London Authority Bill
4:30 pm
Michael Gove (Shadow Minister (Housing), Communities and Local Government; Surrey Heath, Conservative)
That was a gracious intervention, proof if proof were needed—and none is—that the hon. Gentleman has a sense of humour as well as a sense of proportion. He might need his sense of humour and of proportion when the Conservatives win Hammersmith at the next general election, but I am glad to place it on the record that when I made reference to his temporary occupation of the seat occupied by the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough I in no way suggested that he was unfit for office. He is perfectly equipped to serve in almost any capacity in this Administration. [Laughter.] He can take that how he will.
I hope that I made it clear that we do not believe in term limits in principle or for the Mayor of London. We believe that this Mayor should receive his just desserts at the ballot box and at the hands of London’s voters.
I shall briefly explain why we are pressing new clause 14. We have talked a little about why term limits are an American invention that is inappropriate for the British constitution, but we believe that the principle of a recall vote is one American invention that might be appropriate for it. One reason why we think it is appropriate is because, for a variety of reasons, the Mayor, who exercises an executive function analogous to that of the governor of an American state, might dishonour the mandate on which he was elected, go on an ideological or personal journey utterly at odds with the basis on which he was elected or be temporarily incapable of effectively discharging the duties of the office to which he was elected, yet be determined, rather like the captain of the ship in “The Caine Mutiny”, to hang on to the levers of power, even though he is no longer fit to do so. Such a situation might arise in a number of circumstances.