Scotland needs a devolution revolution from Holyrood to city councils with directly elected mayors – Nick Cook

With maturity comes greater responsibility. And with responsibility comes tough decisions.

Edinburgh should have its own directly elected mayor like London and Manchester, says Nick Cook (Picture: Shutterstock)

I can announce to Evening News readers that after two terms as an Edinburgh City councillor, I won’t be seeking re-election at the next council elections in 2022.

Since the birth of my daughter in 2018, I’ve aimed, above all, to be a hands-on 21st-century dad. But there has been no escaping that being there to help change the nappies, run the baths and hear the first words has created an irreconcilable tension between family life, my career and public service to my city.

It has been a privilege to serve Edinburgh but my family will come first.

My arrival on Edinburgh’s political scene in my early 20s was about as likely as me being a Conservative, emerging as I did from an addiction-blighted home in a former mining village in Fife.

In 2012, I was elected Edinburgh’s youngest councillor. I was the only Tory gain on Edinburgh Council, winning the Liberton/Gilmerton Ward – an area taking in some of the city’s more deprived areas.

Quickly placed on the front bench as Conservative transport spokesman, I’m proud of my efforts leading opposition to the tram extension and the blanket 20mph roll-out. At the time, others refused to give a voice to the significant portion of voters opposed to these initiatives.

Conservative councillor Nick Cook

Resigning from that role earlier this year, I remain fully committed to my current Morningside Ward until 2022. I’ve helped hundreds of people over the years, often with issues that might seem small, but which nonetheless always significant for the person affected. I continue to serve.

Unlike a parliamentarian, being a councillor isn’t currently intended to be a full-time or primary job. Rather, it should draw in community-minded people with a broad spectrum of life and professional experience.

The average age of a councillor is certainly younger than years past, but the hours are often antisocial and the juggling act for a thirtysomething professional with a young family like me means unenviable choices.

Councils hold decision-making power over all manner of things, from transport to bins to libraries and school buildings.

If our town halls and city chambers are in future to attract and keep the range of talent needed to produce thoughtful decision-making reflective of the wider city, change must come.

Much has been written in the papers this week on devolution. I want more of it. But not to Holyrood.

I want to see a devolution revolution from Holyrood to councils, with real accountability realised through Edinburgh and other Scottish cities having directly elected mayors and a cabinet of city ministers. This would attract a new calibre of people to our local politics and ensure voters know clearly who is responsible for running their local community or region.

If this isn’t to happen, at the least a major shake-up of the responsibilities and pay of councillors is needed, likely with fewer, professionalised councillors better paid and qualified to preside over a raft of enhanced responsibilities.

The path to such reform is uncertain, but I hope future occupants of the City Chambers will bring the talent and be given the powers and means to properly reflect the public they seek to represent.

But one thing seems sure. I won’t be one of them.

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