City Talks: The Voice of the City - Lessons for the English Metro Mayors

Ahead of the inaugural metro mayor elections taking place in six English city regions, Andrew Carter talks to key staffers in both the Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson mayoral administrations in London – Sir Edward Lister and Neale Coleman. He finds out how the mayors worked, how the Olympics happened, and how having this form of leadership has helped the capital to go from strength to strength.

They also offer key pieces of advice for the English metro mayors to make their first term – and the model itself - a success. How can they make the most of the power they do have to actually change their cities, how can they work with central and local government, and is there really as much politics involved as everyone thinks?

Andrew also talks to Naomi Clayton and Brian Semple about the impact on UK cities of the recently introduced apprenticeship levy and the recently increased national living wage. They also discuss the landscape ahead of next month’s metro mayor race.