In the new order, England’s metro mayors now find themselves in the spotlight. While they used to scrabble for scraps of attention from successive Conservative governments, the pendulum has now swung. Central government is eager to engage with mayors across the country, everywhere, and all at once.
While well-intentioned, this sudden enthusiasm has created a bit of a muddled mess, epitomised by the newly established Council of Nations and Regions (CoNaR).
CoNaR’s origins trace back to Gordon Brown’s 2022 report, A New Britain: Renewing our Democracy and Rebuilding our Economy. The vision was ambitious: a legally mandated body fostering cooperation across national, regional, and local government, ensuring local voices were respected and empowered.
Brown’s idea was noble. A mechanism to “prevent central government from treating communities in the high-handed way we have seen too much during COVID” is exactly the kind of vehicle that mayors such as Andy Burnham have been calling for for years. But in practice, CoNaR has fallen short of this promise.
The Council now comprises a pretty disparate group: leaders of the devolved governments, 12 English metro mayors, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister (sometimes), and the Minister for Intergovernmental Relations. They meet twice a year to either discuss or decide – it’s not entirely clear. What is clear is the disconnect. What exactly does the Mayor of East Midlands, managing a £60 million budget, have in common with the Scottish First Minister, overseeing a budget 1,000 times larger?
Even the Deputy Prime Minister seemed sceptical.
Angela Rayner skipped CoNaR’s inaugural meeting in October, preferring instead to host the metro mayors separately in Newcastle at the launch of the Mayoral Council the day prior. This duplication of meetings and messaging, complained about by some mayors, underscores a larger issue – CoNaR seems to lack purpose, coordination, and impact.
CoNaR is certainly not the “powerful, legally-mandated body” Brown envisioned. Without statutory authority, it’s toothless—unable to compel action from either central government or devolved administrations. At best, it’s an advisory forum. At worst, it’s a glorified talking shop.
Contrasting this with Germany’s Bundesrat or Australia’s Council of Australian Governments — institutions with real legislative and financial influence that ensure sub-national governments shape national decisions — is not entirely fair, though this doesn’t make the differences less stark.
While it’s unsurprising that CoNaR isn’t on this scale of development, the fact it meets just twice a year with no clear powers leaves it ill-equipped to tackle pressing issues like regional inequality or the net-zero transition.
Its composition also highlights the fragmented devolution landscape. There’s largely no representation for the South of England outside of London and the West of England, and neither is there representation for the regions of the devolved nations. In trying to create a united forum, CoNaR inadvertently underscores the uneven reality of devolution as it stands.
The Council of Nations and Regions could be transformative. It has the potential to unite leaders across the country under a shared vision, delivering on Labour’s promise to empower local communities and tackle regional disparities.
It needs to be built into a vehicle equipped to drive change or it risks becoming another layer of ineffective bureaucracy—a nod to localism rather than a genuine shift of power.
It is hoped that the Government’s forthcoming Devolution White Paper will set out an enhanced role for CoNaR. To be able to deliver the vision set out by Gordon Brown it will need:
- Legislative Authority: CoNaR needs a statutory foundation to enforce decisions and hold governments accountable. Without this, it will remain symbolic rather than functional.
- Balanced Representation: There is a clear need to address disparities by exploring mayoral systems within the devolved nations and accelerating devolution in underrepresented areas of England.
- Defined Purpose: CoNaR must clarify its role. Is it a collaborative forum, a decision-making body, or something else? Its function should complement existing structures such as the Mayoral Council, not duplicate them.
- Frequent Engagement: Meeting twice a year isn’t enough. More regular, focused sessions are needed to address urgent priorities like housing, transport, and renewable energy.
The Devolution Revolution is somewhat living up to its name, in that a significant moment of change has been followed by months of chaos and confusion. If Labour wants to make good on its passion for place, it must turn this council from a talking shop into a powerful vehicle for action.
Otherwise, it will be remembered not as a solution but as yet another failure on the long, rough road towards devolution.
