Mancunian One-Party States?

  "Supermajority Problem Councils"

TODAY, the Liberal Democrats at their Autumn Conference in Brighton passed a motion attempting to deal with what they call 'supermajority problem councils', such as Manchester's virtual one-party state.

The motion called for Single Transferable Vote at all local elections and for all council meetings to be streamed live on the internet - a recent source of great controversy in Manchester when leader Richard Leese twice banned opposition questions about a councillor under police investigation and the live streaming was mysteriously pulled off air.

The LibDem 'Power for People and Communities' motion gave councillors the right to hold service providers to account, strengthen transparency and planning rules and abolish Police and Crime Commissioners.

In 2014, Manchester Council became a total one-party state with every one of the 96 councillors being Labour, and with many branding it 'unhealthy'.  Liberal Democrats have since made a comeback with former Manchester Withington MP John Leech leading the opposition.

 The LibDems say that this policy proposal will strengthen scrutiny on councils like Manchester, disabling them from becoming a one-party state and ensuring council meetings are always publicly viewable. 

Liberal Democrat Communities Spokesperson Greg Stanton said:

'Manchester is a textbook case of what happens when a party gets a super majority elected under an outdated electoral system; opposition questions are banned, live-streams mysteriously stop working, contractors are not held to account, decisions made behind closed doors and everyone passes the buck.
'I'm delighted this motion has passed and will lay the foundation to tackling supermajority problem councils like Manchester.'

This decision specifically referred to Manchester City but it could also be applied to other councils in the Greater Manchester area such as Rochdale and Tameside.. 

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