91Èȱ¬

Is it time to consider cutting the number of councillors across the North West?

Back in 2008 Sam Hurst was elected as a Conservative to , becoming one of the youngest elected politicians in the country.

Having experienced local government, he is now campaigning to reduce the number of councillors across the region by a third.

How many councillors do you think there are in Greater Manchester?

Cllr Hurst says the total is 644 and reckons his plan would save about £2m.

It is an idea being taken seriously in .

There the Liberal Democrat run council is proposing a reduction in the number from 60 to 40.

But Labour, hoping to take control of the council in May, opposes it. They argue that fewer councillors would increase the democratic gap between politicians and voters.

I actually met quite a few people in Oldham who were quite supportive of reducing the number.

It would still leave people with two councillors per ward.

The other week I met who was trying to generate enthusiasm for an elected mayor of Liverpool.

When I asked him what could be done to improve the quality of local councillors, he suggested this approach.

He believes fewer councillors, with more to do, could attract a higher calibre of candidate.

I know there are plenty of excellent councillors but there are plenty of weak ones too.

I also meet a lot of people who could make great local representatives but do not see the point.

The government says this is a matter for individual councils to decide.

But even if Oldham council passes the motion, it could not proceed until there has been a review by the .

And that's not an organisation which makes overnight decisions.

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Could cities like Liverpool get an elected Mayor?

The former Labour cabinet minister, , was in Liverpool this week, drumming up support for directly elected mayors.

He is now director of the and believes the city would be better run with a highly visible figure.

You can read about .

It's a debate we've had before but now there is more reason to take notice.

Whether people want it or not, they are going to be given the choice in a referendum.

Labour introduced directly elected mayors and the first outside London were created in 2002.

But the idea never really caught on and Labour seemed to cool on the idea.

In the North West, referendums to change the system were held in and Crewe & Nantwich but failed.

Labour appeared to cool on the idea but the coalition is .

The leaders of the 12 largest cities in England - including Liverpool and Manchester - will become so-called "shadow mayors" in May.

A year later, during which I would be amazed if voters noticed any difference, there will be referendums to confirm or reject the change.

Ministers hope that voters will have got used to the idea and think they may as well keep it.

But they are battling apathy.

Former 91Èȱ¬ journalist Liam Fogarty has to force a referendum in Liverpool on precisely this subject.

He needed 5% of the city's population to sign a petition but simply could not muster the numbers.

Nevertheless Mr Fogarty remains convinced of the benefits.

He points out that in typical local elections in Liverpool, three out of four people don't vote. He believes that if people were instead voting for a high profile individual, they would be magnetised towards the ballot box.

Reinvigorating local politics is certainly a prize worth fighting for.

But would a directly elected mayor make much difference?

Labour's Joe Anderson who runs Liverpool does not think so. He points out that it's not clear what extra powers would be available.

He is not convinced he would be able to get anything more done that he cannot do already.

And , head of politics at Liverpool University, believes it would have made much more sense to have established an executive Mayor for all of Merseyside, or indeed Greater Manchester.

He thinks that would have given the city regions greater strategic grip.

But the Conservatives dislike anything that smacks of regionalism so that leaves us with city mayors.

And remains an enthusiast. He thinks an elected mayor would give Liverpool greater punch on the national and international stage.

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