Three metro mayors join Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative
Bloomberg Philanthropies and the London School of Economics (LSE) have launched a Europe-focused professional leadership and management program designed specifically for the region’s municipal chiefs.
image: Bloomberg
The inaugural class includes 30 mayors and 60 senior officials from 17 countries, representing over 21 million residents. Participants from the UK include Mayor Oliver Coppard of South Yorkshire, Mayor Richard Parker of West Midlands, and Mayor Tracy Brabin of West Yorkshire together with Lynn Williams, Council Leader from Blackpool, UK and Dimitri Batrouni, Council Leader of Newport, UK.
Established with a $50 million investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative will be delivered by LSE Cities in collaboration with the Hertie School in Berlin.
Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg and Bloomberg Philanthropies and 108th mayor of New York City said, “We continue to expand our municipal leadership programs globally, because we’ve seen how well they work – and we want more cities to benefit.
“As Europe increasingly looks to local governments to lead, we’re glad to join forces with the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Hertie School on this new initiative. Together, we can bring mayors and senior officials the tools, training, and peer networks they need to take on their biggest challenges – and succeed.”
Professor Larry Kramer, President and Vice Chancellor of LSE said, “Cities are where our most complex, urgent challenges show up first, and so where real solutions often start.
“Mayors across Europe are looking to lead—but to address the unique problems they face and deliver on new opportunities that emerge, they need sharp management, strong teams, and the skills to innovate. This is precisely what the Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative will help provide.
“I am deeply grateful to Mike Bloomberg and Bloomberg Philanthropies for their steadfast commitment to strengthening local governments here in the UK and across the globe. This Initiative is a testament to their visionary thinking—and to the enduring partnership between our two organisations to help the continent’s mayors push further and do more.”
Mayor Tracy Brabin of West Yorkshire, said, “In West Yorkshire, we don’t just believe in local leadership – we prove its power every day, Across the UK and Europe, mayors are getting things done – rebuilding trust, hope and opportunity, and delivering real change. The Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative will help us go even further, helping us to raise ambitions, learn from each other, and lead with confidence.”
The programme’s core premise is national and global policies increasingly require local progress – but Europe’s municipalities face mounting and competing pressures from attending to the day to day to mitigating climate shocks, while navigating complex central government rules and slow bureaucracies with strained budgets and stretched capacity.
The data underscores the need: 86% of mayors surveyed by Eurocities report that their city will have to innovate to overcome a lack of resources to deliver on their priorities—and two thirds rank leadership and commitment from mayors and senior municipal officers as the most important factors to achieve this.
The aim of the Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative is to equip participating urban leaders with the strategies, skills, and networks to meet the moment. Through the nine-month intensive classroom, field-based, and capacity-building training, they will learn evidence-backed strategies from world-class faculty, researchers, and policy leaders on how to drive performance, work across departments, mobilise collaborations, and marshal solutions that deliver tangible results for citizens.