Many Liberal Democrats feel an instinctive unease when confronted with the idea of directly-elected regional mayors. This hesitation is understandable. These roles concentrate a significant degree of executive authority in a single individual, while the combined authorities designed to support and scrutinise them often lack the strength and visibility of more established democratic institutions. Concerns about accountability, checks and balances, and the potential for over-centralisation at a regional level are therefore entirely legitimate.

However, focusing solely on these risks carries the separate risk of overlooking the substantial benefits that regional mayors can bring. While the model is not without its flaws, directly-elected mayors have repeatedly demonstrated their capacity to act as visible, accountable leaders who can champion their regions, drive economic development, and unlock improvements in public services. At their best, they provide a clear point of leadership that can cut through bureaucratic inertia, coordinate policy across transport, housing, skills, and infrastructure, and advocate effectively for investment and attention from central government.

Viewed through this more optimistic lens, it is to my mind clear that the Liberal Democrats should reconsider their cautious stance.

Rather than resisting the model that is being implemented outright, we should engage with it pragmatically and strategically. That means identifying opportunities to win mayoral contests such as Cumbria, Hull, Cambridgeshire, Surrey, Hampshire and more. Then using those platforms to demonstrate how liberal values such as community empowerment, transparency, sustainability, and inclusive growth can be delivered at scale. Success at a regional level can, in turn, strengthen our influence nationally.

Regional mayors also present an opportunity to advance long-standing Liberal Democrat priorities around constitutional reform. For example, as a party we have consistently supported reform of the House of Lords to make it more representative and democratically legitimate. At the same time, we believe strongly in community politics and the importance of local voices shaping national decisions.

Directly elected mayors could help bridge this gap. Over time, they could form the basis of a more territorially representative second chamber, or at the very least be formally integrated into national decision-making processes beyond the very basic mayoral council and the council of nations and regions. In this way, English devolution could become a stepping stone towards a more balanced and federal constitutional settlement.

The economic case is equally compelling. Regions such as Greater Manchester and the West Midlands offer tangible examples of how empowered regional leadership can help stimulate growth, attract investment, and coordinate development strategies. By aligning transport policy with housing delivery, skills provision, and business support, mayors in these areas have been able to pursue more coherent and ambitious approaches to regional development.

As a party that believes in economic growth, the Liberal Democrats should not shy away from these success stories. Instead, we should learn from them adapting and improving on business-friendly and innovation-led approaches, while ensuring that growth is environmentally responsible and benefits all communities.

Given they are happening anyway, we should take a less cautious approach to them and try and use them to deliver a fairer deal for our communities. For every liberal democrat that we do not make a sincere effort to get elected as a regional mayor, we are saying by implication to that community that we let inertia get in the way of being on their side.

* Callum Robertson is a teacher and member of the Federal Board. He is a Watford Borough Councillor.