Petition for an elected mayor

For each local authority there is a group of people who are in charge of what the council does.

This arrangement can be structured in 1 of 3 ways:

• a directly elected mayor and a cabinet of councillors
• a leader elected by the council and a cabinet of councillors
• a directly elected mayor and a council manager appointed by the council

Suffolk County Council has a leader elected by the council and a cabinet of councillors.

What is a directly elected mayor?

A directly elected mayor should not be confused with a ceremonial mayor. In many local authority areas a ceremonial mayor represents the area.

A directly elected mayor is elected by voters in the council's area to be the head of the council's decision making body.

Calling a referendum

A referendum gives voters in the area a chance to choose if they are happy with a constitutional change. 

In order to call a referendum for a directly elected mayor a petition must be compiled and signed by 5% of the local government electors shown in the current Register of electors.

This 5% figure is known a the "verification figure" and is published annually as a formal notice. 

For more information please contact our councillor services office:

• email councillor.services@suffolk.gov.uk 
• phone 01473 265119 (weekdays between 9am and 4pm)