David Cameron used his keynote speech at the Tory Party Conference to pledge his support for the creation of new elected mayors in England’s big cities, while promising to “tear up the rule book” when it comes to local regulation and regional bodies. The proposals emanate from Lord Heseltine’s ‘Urban Taskforce’, which is due to issue its final report in the near future.

In his own Conference address earlier in the week, Lord Heseltine outlined a new blueprint for local leadership. He advocated the creation of powerful ‘whole-city’ mayors for England’s largest urban areas – such as Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle and Manchester – and directly elected mayors for all top-tier authorities. Mayors would encompass the roles of elected city leaders and unelected chief executives, serve four-year fixed terms of office, be paid a salary commensurate with their level of responsibility and be subject to loose scrutiny from an elected assembly.

They would also be armed with significant additional powers over transport, welfare and policing. Under the proposals, local authorities would gain control of the budgets currently allocated to Regional Development Agencies, Learning and Skills Councils and Regional Assemblies potentially totalling £10bn. And they would be able to raise funds via a menu of new revenue raising options including bond finance, increased borrowing powers, and the local retention of business rates paid by new start-ups.

Research undertaken by the Centre for Cities for its City Leadership report in 2006, supports the argument that the creation of powerful city mayors will help to unlock the powers that England's big cities need to deliver regeneration, improve transport and spark further economic growth.

However, it remains unclear as to whether there is a genuine appetite at a local level for more powerful leaders. Last year’s Local Government White Paper sought to offer local authorities a choice between directly-elected mayors or directly-elected executives, as well as the current model of indirectly-elected leaders. But there has been virtually no interest in these new proposed arrangements. As a result of local political rivalries, and the natural reluctance of incumbent city leaders, there remain few directly elected city mayors outside of London. With these arrangements expected to come into force in a new Local Government Bill in the near future, it is still not clear how big the take up of them will be.

And the Conservative’s proposal to significantly scale back the role of Regional Development Agencies is also problematic. The Treasury’s recent Sub-National Review may have proposed the phasing out of Regional Assemblies, but it sought to strengthen Regional Development Agencies – so long as they are streamlined and made more accountable.

Nevertheless as David Cameron begins to pull together a coherent manifesto from the reports of his various policy review groups over the next year, the creation of powerful city mayors and pledges to slash the responsibilities of regional agencies are the most likely aspects of Lord Heseltine’s report to be taken forward.

But given that even Mike Whitby in Birmingham – their most prominent ‘big city leader’ – is not enthusiastic about becoming a Mayor, it is still not clear whether the Tories could succeed in reforming local governance arrangements where Labour has so far fallen short.