Cornwall will have to have a directly elected mayor or leader in order to get additional powers from the Government. When the Government revealed its levelling up plans earlier this year it said that Cornwall was one of the first areas to be invited to secure a new county deal.

It was stated then that the Government wanted to have more areas to have directly elected leaders or mayors such as London and Manchester. And it has now been revealed that if Cornwall wants to achieve its ambitions then it will also have to have a new directly elected leader.

Cornwall Council is leading the work on the county deal and Conservative leaders at County Hall have stated that they are seeking to secure new powers such as the ability to charge a premium in council tax on second homes and have more say on funding provided for Cornwall.

It would follow the devolution deal which was secured in 2015 when Cornwall was the first rural unitary authority to achieve such a deal. This gave Cornwall greater control in a variety of areas including public transport and EU funding.

Cornwall is currently considered to be a Level 2 area as it has a "strong leader and Cabinet" model for the governance of Cornwall Council. Under the county deal proposals this would enable the council to have new responsibilities including adult education and compulsory purchase powers currently held by Homes England.

However Cornwall is aiming to secure more responsibilities which would require being a Level 3 area but this would mean having a mayor or leader of Cornwall directly elected by the public.

Cornwall Council leader Linda Taylor, speaking on BBC Radio Cornwall, said that this would not be a sitting councillor but "somebody new". She did say that it could mean that one of Cornwall's six MPs might decide to stand as the new leader of Cornwall. The Conservative council leader also said that she did not like the term of a "mayor or governor" for Cornwall and said that it was more like a "leader for Cornwall".

If Cornwall did secure a Level 3 county deal then it would have responsibility for long term funding – such as the Shared Prosperity Fund which has been set out to be the source of money to replace EU funding.

It would also provide new powers and responsibilities around transport schemes and other major projects.

A report which went to the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Leadership Board last week stated: "At the time of writing the report, discussions with Government have been limited to an initial introductory meeting. As and when negotiations begin, the council intends to identify where the range of devolution type proposals previously identified by the Leadership Board sit across Levels 2 and 3.

"This will enable the council to ascertain whether the opportunities available at Level 3, particularly the long-term investment commitments, merit consideration of changing the council's governance model to a local authority directly-elected mayor/leader."

Cllr Taylor has said that any changes would be subject to consultation and a vote by the full Cornwall Council.

North Cornwall MP Scott Mann has previously said he is in favour of a directly elected mayor whilst St Austell and Newquay MP Steve Double said that there might need to be a referendum to decide whether to have a directly elected mayor.

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