DAVID Cameron’s dream of elected mayors in Britain’s major cities looks to be in tatters after the the idea was rejected in referendums.

Manchester, Nottingham and Coventry have voted No, and there are signs that Birmingham and others have also dismissed the plan.

In Liverpool, Labour’s Joe Anderson became the city’s first elected mayor with 58,448 votes.

The city had chosen to go ahead with a mayoral election without a referendum.

The results are embarrassing for the Prime Minister, who had thrown his weight firmly behind the changes in a series of speeches and interviews.

Mr Cameron had attempted to use the example of London Mayor Boris Johnson, saying he wanted a “Boris in every city”.

However, critics argued that the proposals were unnecessary and would add another expensive layer of bureaucracy.