Voters in Salford have decided to directly elect the city's mayor following a referendum in the area.
The poll found that 17,344 people were in favour of the new reform compared to the 13,653 who voted no on the proposal. Despite this groundbreaking decision turnout levels were only at 18.1 per cent for the city's 171,000 eligible voters.
Despite the low figures it now means residents have the power to directly elect their mayor compared to the old system where the leader of the council was promoted from within and chosen by a number of councillors. The city will hold its first mayoral election on May 3rd.
Hazel Blears, Labour's MP for Salford and Eccles, said: "It is obviously disappointing when there is a low turnout in any kind of ballot, but that's the beauty of democracy, the people are in charge and the people decide. The next stage of this is to elect a mayor who will be elected on policies that people care about."
Salford follows the example of London who voted in Boris Johnson as its mayor in 2008, taking over from Ken Livingstone.
means?