One of the council leaders behind the £1.14 billion East Midlands devolution deal says he is not "100% in favour" of the new mayoral role for the region that it will create. David Mellen, the Labour leader of Nottingham City Council, was one of four who signed the agreement in the summer which will hand more money and powers to Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire councils.
The agreement, which is currently out for public consultation until January 9, will create a new East Midlands authority headed up by a new Mayor for the East Midlands, who will be directly elected by the public. Ben Bradley, the Conservative leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, was another one of those who signed the deal and he has not ruled himself out of running to be Mayor when the first election is due to take place in 2024.
But when asked whether he would be interested in the role, David Mellen told Nottinghamshire Live: "No. It's the way that things are working at the moment. I'm not 100% in favour of the Mayor but certainly the way the Government offered this, doing this at what is called Level 3 which involves the Mayor involves significantly more money than any other level so being responsible for the people of Nottingham, I couldn't turn that down."
