INDEPENDENT councillor Kevin Nicholson is entitled to his view that the roles of Darlington council leader and mayor should be combined into a directly elected post (Echo, June 8) but I disagree.

Having been both a council leader and a council chairman (equivalent to mayor) I know from experience the two roles are completely different.

The leader is the political head of the majority party, the mayor or chairman is the civic and ceremonial head and by tradition is politically neutral during his/her term of office.

Any mayor/chairman will tell you the ceremonial role is not only very important in its own right, it is also very time-consuming, almost a full-time job. It is also widely appreciated by many local organisations.

Particularly in a town like Darlington which has a thriving community and artistic life, the mayor is asked to attend events on an almost daily basis.

Going into schools has the added benefit of giving children an idea about local democracy.

Council meetings I have found run more smoothly with a neutral person (the mayor) taking the chair to allow the leader to lead the political discussion and take part in debates. In the House of Commons, it is the Speaker who conducts the proceedings and not the prime minister.

In 2007, Darlington voted 58% against having an elected mayor. Fewer than one in four people took part in the ballot, and I suspect the turnout in a repeat vote would be even smaller – and at what cost?

Let us keep our ceremonial mayor who serves for one year only. This signal honour is rightly given to many different members for their long service over the years, regardless of party.

The council leader is elected by fellow members who are the best people to make a judgement on his/her capabilities. Likewise the prime minister is elected by MPs for the same reason and not by the electorate as a whole, as is popularly imagined.

If our prime minister was elected by popular vote, we would no doubt end up with Boris Johnson or Nigel Farage running the country. The US elects its president by popular vote and has put the unpredictable and unstable Donald Trump in charge of the most powerful nation on earth.

And for those who would replace our head of state with someone elected by the people, I have just three words to destroy their argument: President Tony Blair.

(Hon Alderman) Chris Foote Wood, Darlington