Deputy Labour group leader Ian Ward said the Government was trying to encourage cities like Birmingham to have elected mayors and was “pushing them down the road” by offering four-year terms in office for council leaders.

Coun Ward (Lab, Shard End) said: “Perhaps Mike Whitby has undergone a transformation and now wants to be mayor of Birmingham without submitting himself for election.”

In an extraordinary written submission to the Government, it is claimed that Coun Whitby is already the most powerful council leader in the land – eclipsing even Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London. The council’s response to the Committee on Standards in Public Life claims that “clear leadership is provided at political level and decision makers are clearly visible and held to account” in Birmingham.

Coun Whitby was unavailable for comment.