SCOTTISH CITIES MUST MAKE SOME MAYOR CHANGES

Manchester model could work north of the Border

SCOTLAND'S biggest cities would have a "bigger voice" if they were represented by a directly elected regional mayor like Manchester or Liverpool, Andy Burnham has said.

The senior Labour figure said places such as Glasgow were being "held back" by not having a recognisable figurehead and were "not making their presence felt" at Holyrood or Westminster.

Burnham was elected as mayor of Greater Manchester - a region that includes 10 local authorities - in 2017 and has since won two further landslide victories. The former UK Government minister visited Edin burgh this week with Steve Rotheram, the mayor of the Liverpool City Region, where the pair met with First Minister John Swinney.

Speaking to the Record, Burnham said: "Our perception would be, perhaps, that Scottish cities are being held back, or disempowered, and are not making their presence felt."