Gisela attended a mayoral hustings meeting with Birmingham University labour students, along with Sion Simon and Albert Bore. The debate was chaired by Dan Harrison from Birmingham University Labour Students. The event was a great success and gave Gisela the … Continue reading
The 3rd March event took place on Birmingham’s New Street in response to last summer’s Riots. Instead of hoards of young people running through the City Centre causing havoc, this event had groups of young people in teams alongside adults from … Continue reading
Gisela appeared at a breakfast meeting last week with some of the other potential candidates for Birmingham mayor, talking about how the city would benefit from having an elected mayor. “At the moment,” she said, “the process means that no-one … Continue reading
The Guardian has published an article urging voters in cities facing a mayoral referendum not to be too complacent about sticking to the status quo. It says: “Those which choose elected mayors will have a competitive advantage, in terms of mandate, … Continue reading
The Times has published an article on the Birmingham mayoral referendum, and in particular an interview with Gisela, which took place walking around central Birmingham. The article makes it clear that Gisela is one of the main contenders for the … Continue reading
Birmingham Chamber of Commerce is very strongly in favour of an elected mayor for Birmingham – it can see the benefits that the role would have for business and for the city’s economy. Gisela attended an event with the Chamber … Continue reading
Gisela was interviewed with Lord Fowler on the subject of elected mayors on this week’s Sunday Politics. Watch it on iPlayer (43 minutes into the programme).
The Guardian has reported on the ways in which the adoption of elected mayors by major cities will invigorate local politics. In an article published on 13 February it said that a change to elected mayors will: remove the confusion … Continue reading
The Evening Standard has reported on the fact that a number of what it calls Labour ‘big guns’ are launching careers outside Westminster, including Gisela in this list. In its report on 7 February it said: A string of heavyweights … Continue reading
Birmingham secondary school head teachers and business people are invited to an event led by Gisela and hosted by Birmingham Chamber of Commerce on 24 February. Continue reading
In January 2012 I wrote to the Departmnent of Communities and Local Government with my response to their consultation on a directly elected mayor for Birmingham. Here’s the text of my letter: The proposal to establish an elected Mayor for … Continue reading
1. Why do we need change? The current leader-council system in Birmingham: Not democratic The council leader is not selected by the public, but by the council itself, excluding the electorate from the process and potentially leading to partisan politics[1] … Continue reading