Jacob Rees-Mogg, MP for North East Somerset, questions need for West Metro Mayor.

I do not always agree with Jacob Rees-Mogg, MP for North East Somerset.  In the past he has been quoted in The Daily Telegraph as saying England would become a "small, shrunken, shrivelled place" if Scotland voted for independence while his use of “London Plus" to describe England, Wales and Northern Ireland if Scotland left the Union is outrageous.  In more recent times he has spoken in parliament against having a separate national anthem for England.

Be that as it may, I have to agree with his comments opposing the possible introduction of a Metro Mayor to have authority over Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset.   Mr Rees-Mogg was quoted in this article by James Crawley in the Western Daily Press of February 11.

MP questions plans for one West mayor.

“Plans to introduce a mayor who would have powers across much of the West have been questioned by MP Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Talks have been held in the last couple of weeks about a the possibility of introducing a Metro Mayor who would have authority over Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset.

The four current council leaders, including B&NES Council leader Tim Warren, have been in talks with central Government about what powers he or she could have.

One of the suggestions by those in favour is a Metro Mayor to take office in the next few years and who would be able to unlock billions of pounds for new investment. The leaders met two weeks’ ago in Weston-super-Mare where they agreed to continue with talks on a devolution deal. But North East Somerset MP, Mr Rees-Mogg, believes a Metro Mayor across the wider region would have “no historical resonance with the public”.

He added: “It is not a cohesive community, with entirely different interests between rural Somerset and urban Bristol.”  The 46-year-old MP has made his views clear at a time when Bath and North East Somerset Residents prepare to vote for whether BANES should have a directly elected mayor or not. . . . ”


In my view City or Town Mayors are all well and good but, as I have written before, our shire counties must be reformed and re-empowered to act as a counterbalance to the vigour of our great cities.   The administrative County of Somerset, for example, should be re-united within its time-honoured boundaries by combining with the unitary authorities of North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset.   As such it would be better able to obviate the threat of Bristol’s urban expansion south and west through the green belt at the expense of rural communities, farming and landscape.