No sooner had the new Coalition Government been installed than there was talk of more cities having directly-elected mayors.

Back in May, the policy was believed to be a priority for the Conservatives, and that has been borne out by today’s news of what could be in store for Bradford and other major cities.

For Government documents state that the timetable for electing mayors is set at May 2012, although that “is subject to confirmatory referendums and full scrutiny by elected councillors”.

If uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the last General Election galvanised interest in politics, just think of the effect going to the polls in less than two years’ time to elect a mayor would have.

But generating more interest in local government is not the only possible benefit, because, done in the right way, there could be other significant gains to be had.

One of those must surely be the possibility of creating more dynamic councils in areas in which no single party has overall control – a situation that can hold back progress.

Of course, as we have previously stated, there need to be checks and balances to control the excesses of any less-than-serious candidates and to prevent the sort of internal strife that recently dogged Doncaster.

At the same time, mayors must have the right sort of powers to make a real difference.

While the policy has its attractions, it is such details that will ultimately determine how successful it could be, and we are still waiting for those.