What could London, Greater Manchester, Liverpool and the Midlands soon have in common with Kent?

To save too many wild (or wonderful) guesses let me tell you - it’s a directly elected mayor.

While we were all hurriedly finishing the Christmas prep last month, Labour unveiled its English Devolution White Paper proposing new structures that would see a new mayor for the county and abolish all 12 borough and district councils.

And these metro mayors, it is promised, will come with strong powers to help them oversee important - but often contentious - issues like housing, planning, employment and transport.

While it’s tempting to let our eyes roll at the thought of more government interference or more costly elections many people may not engage with, I think Kent needs one single seat at the very top table and maybe this is the route to get it?

Take planning as an example..

New house building targets are set to make planning applications for development even more controversial in the years ahead.

And under the current arrangement it can encourage district and borough councils (and their residents) to be pitted against each other as all attempt to compare and argue over what they do and don’t want in their own back yard.

Perhaps this would be the biggest issue to benefit from a countywide approach?

Where frank discussions about where Kent most desperately needs new homes, where is there land most suitable - with the infrastructure to support new residents - aren’t had by those sitting quite so close to the ground in future?

Apparently a new metro mayor would be good for our minds and body too.

In 2021 a detailed report by the Health Foundation argued that the position of city mayors can play a key role in actually improving people’s health.

Because the position will come with significant influence over things that dictate our wellbeing such as jobs, planning, housing, transport, tourism and air pollution, researchers claim the new job can have a direct impact on how we all think and feel.

While many this side of London’s border wouldn’t cast a supporting vote for the capital’s leader Sadiq Khan - you cannot deny he has had the ability and power to make some big policy decisions he perceives will benefit Londoners while needing to pay very little attention to anyone else.

Free school meals for all primary pupils; 20mph limits to reduce road casualties; new and cheaper bus bares; Transport for London prices that have been frozen until at least March 2025 all while the cost of national rail tickets continue to rise around us… and of course that dreaded ULEZ scheme.

Just this week the mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham brought his bus services back under public control with fares, timetables and routes now set by 10 councils in the area.

The airport in the Tees Valley has also benefited from a similar move by its mayor - who saved it from closure, returned it to public ownership, secured new carriers and now has a plan to hit 1.4million passengers in the next 10 years and generate potentially thousands of jobs for local people.

Strong local leaders proving their worth with bold decisions and loud voices championing their own regions and their regions alone.

And whether you agree with those decisions or not surely Kent is deserving of a chance for the same?