Conceptualising ‘generative power’: Evidence from the city-regions of England

Literature on sub-national governance and leadership has frequently suggested that elected leaders can use influence and facilitation skills alongside coercive power, legal responsibilities and resources to achieve policy outcomes. This article investigates the degree to which influence, networking and leadership – or ‘generative power’ – can themselves extend a sub-national body’s ‘capacity to govern’. It uses empirical data from the activities of the six ‘metro-mayors’ elected in England in 2017 to explore whether new institutions, faced with tight limits on policy divergence and institutional and financial resources, seek to transcend these via generative power, and whether the types of generative power used are in line with the previous literature. Findings indicate that many of the previous patterns of generative power are followed in the English case, but also that generative power has not dominated the metro-mayors’ early priorities. Their focus on the distribution of funds suggests that they may develop into ‘grant coalitions’, maximising funds from central government in place of developing a distinct local strategy. The article contributes to the literatures on urban leadership and sub-national governance, and also has implications for jurisdictional design.