Urban Elites in England: New Models of Executive Governance

Steve Leach and David Wilson

International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2004, vol. 28, issue 1, 134-149

Abstract: Political leadership has become a much more explicit and widespread feature of English urban governance than it was 20 years ago. It has become particularly high profile since the Labour Government came into power in 1997 and sponsored legislation (Local Government Act 2000) which required all English local authorities to replace or modify the existing committee system of decision‐making by adopting one of four prescribed options, the thrust of which was to strengthen executive governance. This article considers the legislative drivers for change against the backdrop of long‐established cultural traditions, most notably the continued dominance of the party group which, in many ways, is inimical to the exercise of individual political leadership. It is argued that the way local authorities develop new models of executive governance reflects the local political culture. In other words the ‘locality effect’ assumes considerable importance when considering new patterns of executive governance in urban England. This article explores the interplay between the changing operational and institutional context and the resilient traditions of party group behaviour. It concludes that, while over a period of time there is likely to be considerable change in the patterns of urban political leadership, the rate of progress to that end will be highly differential. Au Royaume‐Uni, le leadership politique est devenu une caractéristique de la gouvernance urbaine bien plus nette et courante qu'il y a vingt ans. Elle est proéminente depuis l'accession au pouvoir du gouvernement travailliste en 1997, lequel a soutenu une législation (Local Government Act, 2000) exigeant de toutes les autorités locales britanniques qu'elles remplacent ou modifient leur système décisionnel de commissions en adoptant l'une des quatre options établies visant au renforcement de la gouvernance exécutive. L'article s'intéresse aux moteurs législatifs du changement sur fond de longues traditions culturelles, notamment de dominance persistante du groupe du parti qui, à bien des égards, est hostile à l'exercice d'un leadership politique personnel. La manière dont les autorités locales élaborent des modèles originaux de gouvernance pour l'exécutif traduit la culture politique locale. Autrement dit, ‘l'incidence locale’ revêt une importance considérable lorsqu'on s'attache aux nouveaux modèles de gouvernance exécutive dans l'Angleterre urbaine. L'article explore l'interaction entre le contexte opérationnel et institutionnel évolutif et les traditions résistantes du comportement de parti. En conclusion, si les modèles de leadership politique urbain connaîtront sans doute une vaste transformation au fil des années, la vitesse de progression de celle‐ci sera très diversifiée.

Date: 2004
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