Editorial trainer and consultant David Scott this week handed in a petition with 5,300 signatures calling for a referendum on whether Torbay should have a directly elected mayor.
It is the culmination of a campaign which has seen Scott resign as president of Torbay Liberal Democrats and take on his own party. It followed the ruling Liberal Democrats on Torbay council voting to increase their allowances while cutting services.
The row led the local paper, the Herald Express, to run a page one splash calling for all 36 Torbay councillors to resign.
Scott said the number of signatures on his petition is 300 more than required under the Local Government Act as it exceeds five per cent of the local electorate.
Scott said: “It has been a hard door-to-door slog with much evidence of public disillusionment with all forms of government. I have had cross-party support from many individuals and if all goes well the referendum will be next May.”
Scott told Press Gazette he has no intention of standing as mayor because his training commitments take him away from his Torbay base and all over the country.
“I am not going to stand, I just want to give people a choice,” he said.
By Jon Slattery
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