The 2017 Liverpool City Region mayoral election was held on 4 May 2017 to elect the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and won by Steve Rotheram.[2] Subsequent elections were planned for May 2020 but were postponed until May 2021 due to the covid pandemic with subsequent elections due every four years. The metro mayor will have control over the whole Liverpool City Region combined authority area which consists of the following local authorities:
The mayor will work with existing city and borough leaders to take forward the mayor's strategic plan. The metro mayor will have a budget of £900 million over 30 years with powers on education & skills, planning and housing, transport, health and social care.[3]
Background
Combined authorities were introduced in England outside Greater London by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 to cover areas larger than the existing local authorities but smaller than the regions. Combined authorities are created voluntarily and allow a group of local authorities to pool appropriate responsibility and receive certain delegated functions from central government in order to deliver transport and economic policy more effectively over a wider area. There are currently six such authorities, with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority established on 1 April 2011, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and three others established in April 2014, and a sixth in April 2016. If only two candidates stand, then the election is conducted under the first past the post (FPTP) voting system, where the candidate with the most votes is elected. If there are three or more candidates, as in 2017, the outcome will be determined by the supplementary vote system (SV). Voters make both a first and second choice, with any candidate securing more than half of the first-preference vote being elected. If no candidate reaches this threshold, then all candidates except those in first and second place are eliminated. Second-preference votes from these candidates are transferred over, and whoever has the most votes is elected.[4]
Candidates
Conservative Party
Conservative candidate Tony Caldeira is a businessman and was candidate for Mayor of Liverpool in 2012 and 2016.[5][6]
Caldeira's key policies were to:
Improve transport networks
Reduce planning processes
Deliver faster economic growth
Increase jobs and skills
Prioritise brownfield sites over greenspace for the building of new homes and workplaces
Make brownfield sites more attractive to developers
Cut the cost of Merseytravel'sFast Tag electronic pre-payment system
Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrat candidate Councillor Carl Cashman is leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Knowsley Council having been elected in 2016.[11] At 25 years old he is the youngest of the candidates.[6]
TUSC candidate Roger Bannister is a member the UNISON public services union, is secretary of a local UNISON Branch and a member of UNISON’s National Executive Council.[12] He previous ran for mayor of Liverpool in the 2016 Liverpool mayoral elections receiving 5% of the votes.[6][13]
Reverse approval for new driver-only Merseyrail trains
UK Independence Party (UKIP)
UKIP candidate Paula Walters is a civil servant and chairwoman of UKIP Wirral.[14] With no previous business experience she has previously campaigned against bridge and tunnel tolls.[6]
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