Helen Pidd (Metro gold: win mayor, G2, 24 May) is right to point out that the directly elected mayor model of governance has a gender bias against female leaders. This is not just a British phenomenon. In carrying out research for my new book, Leading the Inclusive City (Policy Press), I discovered that the vast majority of directly elected mayors in the world are men. It is plausible to suggest that, because directly elected mayors tend to have a presidential style of leadership, this model of governance could be less appealing to potential female leaders, who may prefer a more collective approach to urban leadership.
In my book I present 17 examples of inspirational place-based leadership drawn from 14 different countries. In around half of them directly elected mayors played an important role; in the other half they didn’t. The international evidence shows that directly elected mayors can make a big difference to the governance of a city, but other models of city leadership are available and are just as successful.
Robin Hambleton
Professor of city leadership, University of the West of England
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