ABSTRACT
The 1983–1987 and 1987–1992 Conservative governments introduced a legal requirement for local authorities to submit a range of services to competitive tender, with a presumption in favour of the lowest bidder. The increasing tendency for the centre to intervene in the structures and processes of local decision-making has been influenced by a set of linked worries about the health of local democracy, of which the concern to strengthen local political leadership is but one response. Political parties, or at least the principal parties currently represented in parliament (Scottish Nationalists excepted), are inciting cynicism, criticism, and apathy amongst the electorate. Building from the bottom up, a population of 5000 is about the right constituency size in terms of workload generation, although significant variation around this figure would be acceptable to respond to considerations of local community identity. Electoral frequency is an issue that could and perhaps should be a matter of local choice.
