Sheffield is voting on whether or not the city council should have an elected mayor.
At the moment, the council is run by a leader who is an elected Councillor chosen by a vote of the other elected councillors. However, a change could see a complete shake-up of how our local council is run, with the addition of a mayor elected by voters.
Sheffield is one of ten cities to be taking part in the Mayoral referendums with Manchester, Birmingham and Coventry being just three of them participating.
The Prime Minister David Cameron last week argued that a yes vote, ‘would provide powerful champions to represent people’s interests.’ He continued by explaining that it is not some ‘trivial restructure’ but is in fact about: ‘more investment across our country, more jobs for our workers and more life in our political system.’
Those sceptical of the proposed change believe that it would be costly, would make our politicians less accountable and put too much power into the hands of just one individual.
According to communities.gov.uk, ‘the best estimate of the average local authority mayoral election costs is £641,344.
The referendum count will begin once the local election count is complete in each ward. The result is due to be announced at the English Institute of Sport at around 4pm on Friday.