Should Scotland adopt mayoral combined or strategic authorities on the English model?
Scottish Labour and other stakeholders have proposed exploring mayoral combined authorities for Scotland, but what are the merits? The authors conducted a SWOT analysis, identifying strengths and weaknesses of the English model to assess opportunities and threats for Scotland. The article highlights strengths, such as improved economic alignment and agenda-setting power, and weaknesses related to democratic accountability and a lack of substantive powers. In Scotland, there are opportunities to address some problems caused by 1990s reforms of local government, but threats lie in factors such as a lack of enthusiasm from the Scottish local government sector and the country's economic geography. The authors, therefore, caution against straightforward importation.