By Local Democracy Reporter Simon Finlay
Former South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay has “not discounted” standing for elected mayor in Kent if the government introduces sweeping reforms to local government.
Lord Mackinlay of Richborough said he would consider going for the position in a new structure similar to those elsewhere in the country.
Recent reports suggest Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner favours radical changes to the current system where there are 21 county councils with 164 local authorities underneath.
A White Paper is anticipated shortly outlining the direction the government would like to see in future.
This could see Kent’s current system of 14 elected authorities reduced to three with an elected mayor at the top of the structure, say observers.
Lord Mackinlay, who won admiration for his bravery fighting a devastating bout of sepsis last year which left him a quadruple amputee, said: “I wouldn’t discount it.
“Although I have spoken out against mayors in the past, if it’s going to happen, we would want to have a Conservative one.”
Lord Mackinlay, dubbed the ‘Bionic Lord’ because of his prosthetics, said he wants to see the government’s plans and how they might work when the White Paper is released.
He was elevated to the House of Lords earlier this year.
The council system was last reformed in 1974 with two tiers carrying out different functions.
Borough and district councils look after local services such as planning and housing while county councils handle wider ones such as social care and the roads.
Local government observers say that ministers want to simplify the structure and create a smaller number of bigger authorities but bring councils along to work out the best way to achieve the changes.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) says it wants to transfer powers to local authorities to create structures “that make sense” to communities.
While some flexibility may be possible, the government has placed emphasis on the mayoral system.
For Kent, it may result in a combined authority system with a mayor at the top of the structure, like the one in Greater Manchester with mayor Andy Burnham.
A MHCLG spokesman said: “No decisions have been taken on council reorganisation. Our priority is to focus on the transfer of power from Westminster and work with councils to create structures that make sense for their local areas and work effectively for local people.
“We will set out further details in the upcoming English devolution white paper.”
Last week, the MCHLG announced reforms to local government funding which would see the distribution of cash to a smaller number of pots.
A statement said: “Implementation of these reforms will take place alongside multi-year funding settlements, the first in 10 years come 2026-2027, allowing local authorities the certainty to plan and invest for the long-term.
“The number of funding pots will also be reduced to allow councils to have more flexibility to judge local priorities, to meet the needs of local people, and to decide how best to deliver on national priorities.”
I suggest voters review his voting records above anything else.
Max- Or look at the Wikipedia article on Craig Mackinlay, if you’re a bit short on time.
Thank you, just looked – I’m definitely voting for him now.
Peter you have been politically adrift for years, which I put down to your problems with the menopause when you were Ms Pink! Mackinlay is slightly right of Hitler, and he never lived in Thanet, despite being MP for South Thanet! He would have been thrown out had he stood in this years General Election!
That doesn’t change the fact that YOUR neighbourhood elected him 3 times, with increasing majorities. Why???
I suggest Kathy disables the comment option on this thread, as she did for Polly… oops, I forgot – Craig is a very courageous man, who can just shrug off the hateful weasels of Ramsgate and Margate.
Go for it, Craig! You’re the ideal man.
I think you should ask your GP for an HRT review Peter, you are becoming dangerously contrarian, perhaps your present dosage is too high, you are definitely getting more aggressive!
Why is he the ideal man Checksfield?
Give us all the substantive details that back up your assertion for once in your trolling-life on here.
Do it without mining Google for traces of his ‘suitability’
He was good enough -and popular enough – to be elected as an MP three times. If/when Polly does that, she’ll also be an ideal (wo)man.
As ever, no detail from Checksfield to back up his comment.
What has Polly got to do with this? His usual Strawman nonsense
OK… I’m voting for him to annoy the handful of extreme hard-left on here. Ditto, the reason I support the airport.
Goodnight y’all, sweet dreams!
At last, the Troll admits his motives…
What a waste of your life your time on these message-boards really is
What has Craig Mackinlay done to improve things in Thanet?
More than Polly “where’s Thanet?” Billington.
James – your ignorance does shine brightly when you refer to people by surname only! Mr Checksfield or Peter much more polite.
FedupB- Checksfield suits him well enough as far as I’m concerned. Perhaps the fact that he called me a “Welsh whore” has something to do with my extremely low opinion of him.
How about staying on topic for once? I’m sure I’m not the only one who would be thankful.
As for my name madam, just call me “Sir”.
MM Rees – then you show a lack of manners as well by referring to him by surname only! – can you be sure he referred to you as you quote or someone using his name?
Fedup B- you have obviously not been aware of the sort of comment which Checksfield has been making for several years.
.
Yet another off-topic post!! Contribute something.
No thank you.
Why do you think your neighbours elected him 3 times? Genuinely curious, as you obviously know them better than I do, being out and about every day.
Personally I think there will always be controversy surrounding the South Thanet election result. Yes we should move on. At present I cannot see what experience Craig will bring to the table.
–
First we had Mr W. R. Davis the Thanet MP known as the one armed bandit.
Now we will have the bionic man. Former MP for Thanet South.
Both as good as each other.
What next. ?
A climate change and covid denying ex UKIP supporter?
No thanks
Try Clacton.
He’s been your MP three times. So YOUR neighbourhood voted for him – not mine. How do thy feel about your minority views?
He was an enthusiast for Brexit, too.
Look where that got us.
And don’t mention Manston!
An elected mayor for Kent. Precisely what we DON’T need.
More neglect from the Hooray Henry Tory boys from Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks who don’t even know where Thanet is.
We should join with Canterbury, and with Dover & Deal to form a unitary for East Kent. It works for Medway and would work for us.
That sounds more likely.
But still “no” to MacKinlay as mayor.
No thank you, I think we should have a smaller council, back to Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs (before the boundaries completely disappear)
you lot crack me up – who on the isle has the brain cell today? (its never cheeksfield) – nobody wants to merge with tdc…. but that might happen thanks to starmzy. tdc ccc ddc f&h and maybe, to make the numbers add up, adc, will be the new unitary council for east kent. it adds up re ONS population figures to 500,000+ depending on if we are the smallest or mid sized. robo mayor is not the ideal candidate for sure, but who is! only thing for sure is, if they come from, or favour fanet, they are not suitable 😀
“Absolutely bonkers!”
“Not ‘arf, mate!”
Yes, the facts speak for themselves. Thanet would have thrived over the past 45 years if we hadn’t voted for a succession of socialist governments under Thatcher, Major, Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss, and Sunak. And all made worse by rabid communists like Blair and Starmer; not to mention the Marxist BBC, the woke police, and our effeminate armed forces. If only we’d had less regulation we wouldn’t have had a global banking crisis for which Gordon Brown was solely to blame, the French wouldn’t have forced us to leave the EU, electric cars wouldn’t be destroying our climate, and immigrants wouldn’t be stealing our houses in order to provide us with medical care.
MacKinley gets my vote.
Ignoring ‘Fluff’ Checksfield for a minute,can I bring Craig and everyone else down to terra firms, by pointing out devolution may not be what you expect.We have to see what the MCLG are up to first.
It will be pointless in having a Mayor for each of 3 separate unitary councils,and as this lot are mad keen as the last lot on wanting provincial mayors with the emphasis on the word mad, the mayor will have to run something bigger such as a regional body to run transport,regional planning, and economic development.
Craig is a nice person, but he is not Andy Burnham, or Andy Street or even Chris Houchen,Kent needs a progressive not a reactionary.We need to move forward not backwards.
Craig should stick to the House of Lords where I am sure he is doing a great job.
In the spirit of Christmas can we not mention Polly Billington, as the constant references are tantamount to stalking, and in this case, anonymity won’t be an issue.
If anyone is stalking, it is YOU, by mentioning my name in EVERY post on here. GO AWAY, CREEP!!!
George Nokes _what a coincidence- only yesterday I said to someone that I considered Peter Checksfield’s comments to be a sort of online stalking.
Thank you for getting my name right, Martha.
Anyway, back on topic. You stated “What has Craig Mackinlay done to improve things in Thanet?”: What has your current MP done to improve things in Thanet? I’m sure I’m not the only one who is genuinely curious.
At least he BEAT Nigel Farrage for the south Thanet seat in 2015-And look at Farrage for ALL the lies about BREXIT-It was a SCAM.
Be careful whst uou wish for! I didn’t want Farage and got Mackinlay. I wanted more political representation for disabled people and Craig became disabled….I’m going to stop wishing.
Good to know he’s doing more than whining in an occasional online newspaper column. The man’s unstoppable!
I’m not a fan of Mackinlay. As far as I can see he did nothing for the area. He was just brought in to try and stop ukip winning. Given how far to the right the tories went I can’t really see the difference. It least we didn’t have to put up with farage.
On the wider point, I agree that a mayoral system is the way to go. It provides more accountability along with devolving power. They only concern I’ve got is that Kent is just too big an area. I could easily see thanet being left out. Like someone else said an east key mayor could work.
Serious question: Why did he (a) win 3 times, and (b) get a bigger majority each time? He’s never been my MP, but he obviously appealed to quite a few people in Ramsgate and surrounding areas.
42 comments and 17 of them from Peter Checksfield. Peter, your’e really not as interesting as you think you are.
And not one of them have told me why the “unpopular” Craig MacKinlay was elected three times, each time with an increased majority. Perhaps you can explain it Mark, instead of just coming on here whining?
At least one of those were dodgy late boxes of Tory votes turning up at the Winter Gardens and being counted maybe. It was published in the papers at the time.