Plaid Cymru AM Chris Franks has attacked Conservative pledges to hold referendum on directly elected mayors in Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and Wrexham in May 2012.
Chris Franks, a former Vale of Glamorgan and South Glamorgan councillor, warned it would add to the cost of local government and be an unnecessary bureaucratic move.
Chris Franks, who represents South Wales Central, said: “If the Conservatives are proposing this as part of their Assembly election campaign, then they also have a duty to provide a detailed breakdown of the costs of having an elected mayor.
“As far as I am concerned, it would concentrate too much power in the hands of one person. I know what many people in thought when Russell Goodway was both leader and Lord Mayor of Cardiff – they didn’t like it.
“An elected mayor would give even more power to an individual and I do have real concerns about a lack of accountability and scrutiny.
“The public already complain that there are too many politicians but the Tories seem happy to add to the cost of governing our cities.
“Jonathan Morgan (Conservative, Cardiff North) has talked about a directly-elected mayor transforming our cities and towns. Well, few people would argue with the fact that Cardiff and Swansea have been transformed in recent years under the current system of local government. We don’t need unnecessary bureaucracy,” added Chris Franks.
