Exclusive:Former leaders of Edinburgh and Glasgow push for Scotland's answer to the Northern Powerhouse

Donald Anderson and Steven Purcell said the time had come for the two cities to have directly elected regional mayors along the same lines as Manchester.

Writing exclusively in The Scotsman, they said: “As former leaders of Scotland’s two principal cities and most important economies, we think the time has come for them to have directly elected mayors that work together formally to promote ‘Scotland’s Growth Corridor’ as a means of maximising jobs and wealth creation in Scotland.”

Andy Burnham, who has been the mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017, recently warned Scottish cities such as Edinburgh and Glasgow were being "held back" and would have a "bigger voice" if they had an elected provost or mayor.

Mr Anderson was leader of Edinburgh City Council between 1999 and 2006 and Mr Purcell led Glasgow from 2005 to 2010.

They said they had previously “worked together to share ideas and promote joint activity between these two great cities by creating a formal joint city partnership”, but these arrangements later fell away.

They added: “We think the time has come to revisit that partnership. Scotland’s two biggest cities are the engines of Scotland’s economy, and we strongly believe that a new approach is required to fire those engines to meet the undoubted challenges that lie ahead.”

Mr Anderson and Mr Purcell said the move was no “Central Belt power grab that would ignore issues beyond the city regions of Glasgow and Edinburgh”, adding: “The northern triangle of Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness is an equivalent and important economic area which should have its own strategy and resources.

“What we are suggesting simply formalises the fact that the area around and between our two great cities is in reality ‘Scotland’s Growth Corridor’, and public policy needs to reflect that to maximise growth and jobs for Scotland.”

The pair said the Manchester model of layering a mayor over the existing structures “was an elegant way of avoiding major upheaval and enabling joint working to continue apace”, adding: “Two city region mayors working together is the right model for ‘Scotland’s Growth Corridor’ and these two city regions.”

They continued: “We’re a small country on the northern fringes of Europe. It’s not the easiest place in which to build successful cities, but it’s been done. The task and the challenges continue, and to rise to that challenge, and to fire the engines of the Scottish economy there needs to be a strong focus on what we’ve called ‘Scotland’s Growth Corridor’ to create wealth and work for this and future generations and to make all our services better and more efficient.

“The area covered by 14 local authorities from Fife to the Borders and from Renfrewshire to North Lanarkshire contains the twin engines of Scotland’s economy and the majority of its population. ‘Scotland’s Growth Corridor’ and our two great cities need mayors, structures and powers to realise their and Scotland’s full potential.”

Chris Deerin, director of the think-tank Reform Scotland, said: “Donald Anderson and Steven Purcell understand better than anyone both the potential of Scotland’s Central Belt corridor, and what holds it back. Scotland is incredibly centralised, with devolution having stopped at Holyrood.

“We need far more power devolved to local government alongside directly elected mayors, who can better respond to the differing local needs and priorities our communities face whilst also promoting social and economic opportunities.”

There are ten metro mayors in England and Scottish Labour has proposed introducing similar roles in Scotland.

But Councillor Steven Heddle, vice-president of Cosla, the council umbrella body in Scotland, previously said there was no real enthusiasm for directly elected regional mayors north of the border.

Speaking at an event last week at the Festival of Politics in the Scottish Parliament, he raised concerns about the "impact of another structure".

Cllr Heddle said: "There is a risk, or maybe a reality, that this would become more a presidential role, and you have to ask where the connection with local democracy is at this point.

"I think in Scotland, and the polling informally with political groups at Cosla, there's not really enthusiasm to return to regionalisation, and there's not really an enthusiasm for mayors either."