WELCOME to the third of our elected mayor webchats, today with Anne Snelgrove, MP for South Swindon.

Mrs Snelgrove has backed the Adver’s poll on a directly elected mayor for Swindon and said she was pleased that the Adver had taken up the campaign.

However she said that she isn’t convinced that a directly elected mayor would be right for the town.

"I am very pleased that the Adver is doing this investigation and it's always good to have a debate,” said Mrs Snelgrove, who is Parliamentary Aide to Ed Balls and assistant to Ben Bradshaw, the Regional Minister for the South West.

"But, I have to say that I am quite lukewarm on the idea of elected mayors.

"There's no doubt that it's right for London and this has worked very well, but I'm not sure that it's the right thing for a town like Swindon.

"There might be a case to look more seriously at it but I don't know if there will be much support from the voters for another level of bureaucracy and another election.

"It is not an issue that any of my constituents have ever brought up with me but, of course, if it's what my constituents want then I would support them."

Anne will be online from noon to debate the pros and cons of elected mayors. We would ask all participants to be polite and observe the usual Newsquest rules. Thank you, and enjoy the debate.