This month a Commission on Democracy and Civic Participation created by the London Borough of Newham published a pathbreaking report on how to improve local democracy. Newham in East London is exceptionally diverse, and relatively unusual in having its own directly-elected mayor, who commissioned the report. Clare Harding interviews the Commission’s chair, Nick Pearce.
How did this Commission come about, and did it turn out as you expected it to?
The Commission was created in autumn 2019, fulfilling a manifesto commitment by the new Mayor of Newham, Rokshana Fiaz, to set up an independent body to review the borough’s governance. There were concerns locally about how the mayoral model had worked in Newham and whether it concentrated too much power in one individual. The new Mayor had also embarked on a set of reforms to expand democratic engagement in the borough and wanted advice on how to extend and embed these changes. I was asked to chair the Commission to examine and make recommendations on both of these issues.
