With this year’s mayoral election rapidly approaching, does our town really want an elected mayor?

The successful candidate will serve a four-year term of office and be paid a salary of over a quarter of a million pounds during their term, along with a gold-plated pension. Or does the Watford electorate want to go back to pre-2002 and have a mayor who will serve a one-year term with no salary?

I will vote for the candidate that can promise me in their manifesto they will hold a referendum on the important question of what kind of mayor does our town want. None of the candidates so far declared have made any attempt to explain what is involved in the post of an elected mayor for which they are competing.

The mayoral candidates and Watford Council have a great deal to do to make sure everyone in Watford understands what it is at stake and how the result is determined. For example, does the electorate know that the vote-counting method is not the straightforward “first past the post” that we have in all other elections? It’s perfectly possible that our next mayor could be a candidate who did not receive the greatest number of votes. How can this be allowed to happen?

Out of a total of 201 district councils in England, Watford council is one of a few where there will be a mayoral election. So there’s no hope of finding out from the broadcast media or national press what it’s all about.

With families struggling to keep a roof over their heads, putting food on the table and keep warm, it’s high time that this six-figure salary for a four-year term of office has to stop.

Ernie MacKenzie

Gammons Lane, Watford