Strangers into Citizens

A campaign by the Citizens Organising Foundation for a pathway into citizenship for thousands of undocumented workers who have made new lives in the UK. Please click here for details of the Strangers into Citizens campaign. For a two page version of this paper, please click here

Referendum Petition

Is this a petition FOR an elected Mayor?

NO. This petition calls for a referendum - a one-off vote with a yes/ no question (for example "should Birmingham have a directly elected Mayor?") - to let all the people of Birmingham decide whether an elected Mayor is a good idea. This can only happen if there is a referendum.

What is this petition for? What will it change?

New laws in recent years have given British cities the chance to change the way they are run. The House of Commons passed legislation to allow cities to change their governing system to having a mayor who is directly elected by the voters in the city. This would be different to the current system: now, the leader of the council is chosen by the elected councillors from the party in control of the council - with an elected Mayor, the voters would vote directly for the person in the job (the mayor would not take all the powers that the council cabinet now has, but would be a very influential figurehead, with the direct backing of the people of the city).

Why do we need a petition?

The Birmingham City council cabinet decided that we do not need an elected Mayor. But, the communities of Birmingham Citizens believe that this is a big question, and one that the people of the city should be allowed to decide. The laws allow for this: if a petition is signed by 5% of voters in a city, the council MUST call a referendum to decide the question.

Why not just let the council decide?

The communities of Birmingham Citizens have decided that this decision should not be left to the council cabinet. There are two reasons for this:
1) Introducing an elected Mayor would change the existing council structure - taking away some of the power that the council cabinet currently have. We feel that it is difficult for our council cabinet to make this decision, as it impacts their own roles.
2) The council cabinet has less than 15 people in it; there are 700,000 registered voters in Birmingham. On this issue, it feels more appropriate to allow the majority to decide.

"I don't want this city to have an elected Mayor - should I sign this petition or not?"

Don't sign this petition if you are 100% sure that the city shouldn't have an elected Mayor.

"I don't know whether we should have an elected Mayor or not - should I sign this petition?"

You should sign this petition if you don't know what your opinion is on this issue. If you don't know whether the city will be better off with an elected Mayor or whether it will be worse off, you should sign. If you don't sign, and you later decide you have a strong opinion, then there will be no referendum for you to be able to express your opinion.

"I want to support the petition, but I want to know who Birmingham Citizens are first."

Fair question. Birmingham Citizens is a registered charity (1111152). We are a coalition of community groups - Mosques, churches, Gurudwaras, schools, students' groups, residents' associations, local charities. We come together to give ordinary people a voice in the city.

Saltley Enquiry

In the spring of 2003, Young Citizens launched the Saltley Enquiry by going door to door to talk with over 300 people about how they saw the community.

To read more about what they found and for official reports on the Saltley Enquiry click here.