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Three Modernisation, democratic renewal and elected mayors

Abstract

The 1997 Labour manifesto confirmed what had long been anticipated by those who had observed the amount of networking taking place in the previous two to three years, orchestrated by Hilary Armstrong (the Local Government Minister in waiting) – namely that the Labour Party had a serious and wide-ranging agenda for local government. Once it had gained power, the Labour government first expressed what had come to be known as its ‘modernisation’ programme for local government (‘modernisation’ was a key theme throughout its manifesto) in the 1998 White Paper Modern local government: In touch with the people (DETR, 1998a).

There have been three distinctive elements to this modernisation programme – service performance, community leadership and democratic renewal. Service performance has less direct political repercussions than the other two, although the transformation of ‘best value’ into Comprehensive Performance Assessments (CPAs) has certainly attracted the energies of political leaders in particular (especially where an authority has received a ‘poor’ or ‘weak’ assessment – see below). Community leadership has not been subject to the same legislative impetus that the other two elements have, and has as a result developed in different ways and at different speeds in different authorities. Democratic renewal has had the most profound and direct consequences for the operation of local politics, and as a result is given most attention both in this chapter and the next. However, service performance and community leadership have also had political repercussions and are discussed more briefly below.

The Local Government Acts of 1999 and 2000 took forward into legislative form many of the key themes of In touch with the people.

Abstract

The 1997 Labour manifesto confirmed what had long been anticipated by those who had observed the amount of networking taking place in the previous two to three years, orchestrated by Hilary Armstrong (the Local Government Minister in waiting) – namely that the Labour Party had a serious and wide-ranging agenda for local government. Once it had gained power, the Labour government first expressed what had come to be known as its ‘modernisation’ programme for local government (‘modernisation’ was a key theme throughout its manifesto) in the 1998 White Paper Modern local government: In touch with the people (DETR, 1998a).

There have been three distinctive elements to this modernisation programme – service performance, community leadership and democratic renewal. Service performance has less direct political repercussions than the other two, although the transformation of ‘best value’ into Comprehensive Performance Assessments (CPAs) has certainly attracted the energies of political leaders in particular (especially where an authority has received a ‘poor’ or ‘weak’ assessment – see below). Community leadership has not been subject to the same legislative impetus that the other two elements have, and has as a result developed in different ways and at different speeds in different authorities. Democratic renewal has had the most profound and direct consequences for the operation of local politics, and as a result is given most attention both in this chapter and the next. However, service performance and community leadership have also had political repercussions and are discussed more briefly below.

The Local Government Acts of 1999 and 2000 took forward into legislative form many of the key themes of In touch with the people.

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents iii
  3. List of tables and exhibits iv
  4. Preface vi
  5. Parties and politics in local government: ‘the elephant in the room’? 1
  6. The national parties and local Government 15
  7. Modernisation, democratic renewal and elected mayors 45
  8. Local executive government: the impact of the ‘cabinet and leader’ model 69
  9. Councillors: servants of the people? 89
  10. The changing role of local political leadership 111
  11. The dynamics of party groups 129
  12. The dynamics of inter-party relations 153
  13. The role of local party networks 169
  14. The future of political parties in local government 199
  15. References 209
  16. Index 217
The changing role of local politics in Britain
This chapter is in the book The changing role of local politics in Britain
https://doi.org/10.56687/9781847421630-005

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents iii
  3. List of tables and exhibits iv
  4. Preface vi
  5. Parties and politics in local government: ‘the elephant in the room’? 1
  6. The national parties and local Government 15
  7. Modernisation, democratic renewal and elected mayors 45
  8. Local executive government: the impact of the ‘cabinet and leader’ model 69
  9. Councillors: servants of the people? 89
  10. The changing role of local political leadership 111
  11. The dynamics of party groups 129
  12. The dynamics of inter-party relations 153
  13. The role of local party networks 169
  14. The future of political parties in local government 199
  15. References 209
  16. Index 217
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