WOULD Bournemouth be better off with a Boris Johnson-style elected mayor presiding over the town?

Residents are being asked how the borough council should be run under a consultation that runs until August 31.

A new government act requires the council to ask people whether they want to have a leader and cabinet, which is the current system, or a directly elected mayor and cabinet.

But while residents may see the consultation as a way to instigate change, the council is making it clear it wants to carry on how it is.

Joy Postings, service director for law and governance, said: “The council’s preferred option is to continue with a leader and cabinet, which has operated well since 2002 and will provide stability in the way that the town is run.

“An elected mayor will be an extra cost for the council and we feel that residents would benefit from this money being invested in public services.”

Whatever the outcome, there would be some changes. Under the leader and cabinet option, the leader would be elected to serve a four-year term by the full council, rather than the current single year. The leader then forms a cabinet of between two and nine councillors.

Under the elected mayor and cabinet structure, the mayor is elected by voters to serve four years. The mayor is not a councillor and works full-time in the role, forming a cabinet of between four and nine councillors.

Residents should write to the democratic service manager at the town hall, email democratic.services@bournemouth.gov.uk or visit bournemouth.gov.uk/leadership.

The cabinet will consider feedback in November and the full council will decide in December.