2021 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election

2021 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election

←  2017 6 May 2021 2025 →
Turnout	37.0%
Candidate Nik Johnson James Palmer Aidan Van de Weyer Party Labour Co-op Conservative Liberal Democrats First round 76,106 93,942 61,885 Percentage 32.8% 40.5% 26.7% Swing 14.2pp 2.5pp 3.2pp Second round 113,994 108,195 Eliminated Percentage 51.3% 48.7% Eliminated
First Round Results Second Round Results
Mayor before election James Palmer Conservative Elected mayor Nik Johnson Labour

The 2021 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

The supplementary vote system was used to elect the mayor for a four-year term of office. Subsequent elections will be held in May 2025 and every four years thereafter. The election was held alongside a full election for Cambridge City Council, the Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Cambridgeshire County Council and one-third of Peterborough City Council and a number of District and parish by-elections. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Background

Area of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority

The mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough serves as the directly elected leader of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority. The mayor has power over investment directly to the combined authority from the government of £20 million a year for 30 years from 2017. The mayor does not incorporate the Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner into the post.

In the 2017 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election, the Conservative candidate James Palmer was elected with 38.0% of the vote in the first round and 56.9% of the second round vote. The Liberal Democrat candidate Rod Cantrill came in second place with 23.5% of the first round vote and 43.1% of the second round vote, with Labour in third place with 18.6% of the first round vote. ^[4]

Electoral system

The election used a supplementary vote system, in which voters may express a first and second preference for candidates. As there are only three candidates, the process would proceed:

• If a candidate receives more than 50% of the first preference vote, that candidate wins
• If no candidate receives more than 50% of first preference votes, the candidate in third place will be eliminated and their votes redistributed according to second preference votes to the remaining two candidates
• The candidate who then has the highest overall total of votes cast is declared the Elected Mayor. ^{[5] [6]}

Candidates

Three candidates stood for election. ^[7] The Green Party said that they weren't fielding a candidate in order to focus on council elections. ^[8]

Conservative Party

James Palmer was standing for re-election. He was previously a leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council. ^[9]

Labour Party

Nik Johnson, a children's doctor at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, was their candidate. He had been the party's parliamentary candidate for Huntingdon in 2015 and 2017, and has served as a district councillor since 2018. ^[9] He defeated Cambridge city councillor Katie Thornburrow in a vote of party members in November 2020. ^[10]

Liberal Democrats

Aidan Van de Weyer, the deputy leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, was their candidate. ^[11]

Campaign

Palmer, the Conservative candidate, supported a proposed Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro project that would connect towns and villages across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough using driverless pods. The Liberal Democrat candidate, Aidan Van de Weyer, opposed the project and the Labour candidate, Nik Johnson, said he would cancel the whole project. ^{[12] [13] [14]} Van de Weyer and Johnson opposed plans considered by Palmer to build new garden villages to help fund the metro project. ^{[12] [15]}

Palmer said he was delivering bus franchising. Van de Weyer and Johnson also supported bus franchising, and Van de Weyer said Palmer's claims about progressing the process were "hollow" given a lack of progress. ^[16] All three candidates opposed the construction of an incinerator in Wisbech. ^{[17] [18]}

Results

The Liberal Democrat candidate was eliminated in the first round. The Labour and Conservative candidates received the second preference votes. The close race was not finally decided until the Peterborough votes were announced and despite a large vote for the Conservative candidate in Fenland district the outcome was a Labour win. ^[19]

Overall

• 
  First round results of the mayoral election
• 
  Second round results of the mayoral election

2021 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election
Party		Candidate	1st round		2nd round			First round votes  Transfer votes
			Total	Of round	Transfers	Total	Of round
	Labour	Nik Johnson	76,106	32.8%	37,888	113,994	51.3	​​
	Conservative	James Palmer	93,942	40.5%	14,253	108,195	48.7	​​
	Liberal Democrats	Aidan Van der Weyer	61,885	26.7%				​​
Turnout			231,933	37.0%

By local authority

Cambridge

2021 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election (Cambridge)
Party		Candidate	1st round		2nd round			First round votes  Transfer votes
			Total	Of round	Transfers	Total	Of round
	Labour	Nik Johnson	19,585	50.7%	8,875	28,460	76.9%	​​
	Liberal Democrats	Aidan Van der Weyer	12,787	33.1%				​​
	Conservative	James Palmer	6,284	16.3%	2,260	8,544	23.1%	​​
Turnout			38,656	41.1%

East Cambridgeshire

2021 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election (East Cambridgeshire)
Party		Candidate	1st round		2nd round			First round votes  Transfer votes
			Total	Of round	Transfers	Total	Of round
	Conservative	James Palmer	10,408	44.3%	1,444	11,852	53.6%	​​
	Liberal Democrats	Aidan Van der Weyer	7,779	33.1%				​​
	Labour	Nik Johnson	5,323	22.6%	4,929	10,252	46.4%	​​
Turnout			23,510	35.8%

Fenland

2021 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election (Fenland)
Party		Candidate	1st round		2nd round			First round votes  Transfer votes
			Total	Of round	Transfers	Total	Of round
	Conservative	James Palmer	14,494	65.2%	780	15,274	70.0%	​​
	Labour	Nik Johnson	5,129	23.1%	1,228	6,357	30.0%	​​
	Liberal Democrats	Aidan Van der Weyer	2,593	11.7%				​​
Turnout			22,216	29.7%

Huntingdonshire

2021 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election (Huntingdonshire)
Party		Candidate	1st round		2nd round			First round votes  Transfer votes
			Total	Of round	Transfers	Total	Of round
	Conservative	James Palmer	21,824	47.3%	2,707	24,531	54.9%	​​
	Labour	Nik Johnson	15,142	32.8%	4,997	20,139	45.1%	​​
	Liberal Democrats	Aidan Van der Weyer	9,199	19.9%				​​
Turnout			46,165	34.8%

Peterborough

2021 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election (Peterborough)
Party		Candidate	1st round		2nd round			First round votes  Transfer votes
			Total	Of round	Transfers	Total	Of round
	Conservative	James Palmer	22,465	47.7%	1,703	24,168	52.5%	​​
	Labour	Nik Johnson	18,889	40.1%	2,946	21,835	47.5%	​​
	Liberal Democrats	Aidan Van der Weyer	5,776	12.3%				​​
Turnout			47,130	33.9%

South Cambridgeshire

2021 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election (South Cambridgeshire)
Party		Candidate	1st round		2nd round			First round votes  Transfer votes
			Total	Of round	Transfers	Total	Of round
	Liberal Democrats	Aidan Van der Weyer	23,751	43.8%				​​
	Conservative	James Palmer	18,467	34.0%	5,359	23,826	46.9%	​​
	Labour	Nik Johnson	12,038	22.2%	14,933	26,971	53.1%	​​
Turnout			54,256	45.0%

Aftermath

Johnson was elected mayor and repeated his commitments to introducing bus franchising. ^[20] He cancelled plans for an autonomous metro system that he described as having "all the hallmarks of being an expensive folly and a potential financial blackhole". ^[21]

Palmer said he would leave politics following his defeat. ^[22] Tim Wotherspoon, a Conservative councillor who lost his seat in the concurrent county council election, said Palmer "had it coming". ^[23] Van der Weyer stood down as the deputy leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council to "recharge [his] batteries" after the campaign. ^[24]

See also

• 2021 Cambridgeshire County Council election
• 2021 Cambridgeshire police and crime commissioner election

References

1. "Local Elections 2020". Peterborough City Council . Archived from the original on 8 April 2016.
2. "Elections in 2020". Cambridge City Council . Archived from the original on 18 May 2020.
3. "Police and Crime Commissioner elections". The Electoral Commission . Archived from the original on 11 September 2013.
4. "Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough". BBC. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
5. "Choosing an elected mayor for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough". ITV News. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
6. John Hill (2021). Election of Mayor for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority. John Hill.
7. "Choosing an elected mayor for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough". ITV News. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
8. "Green Party won't contest mayoral and crime chief elections in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire". www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk. April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
9. "Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral elections: The candidates who say they will be standing". BBC News. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
10. "Labour selects NHS doctor as candidate for Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough election". www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
11. Veale, Andy (6 June 2020). "Cambridgeshire Lib Dems announce candidate to take on 'aggressive' mayor". Cambridge Independent. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
12. "Cambridgeshire mayoral candidate vows to scrap 'foolish' £4bn Metro". Construction News. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
13. Hatton, Benjamin (26 March 2021). "Labour pledge to halt Cambridgeshire metro plans if elected". CambridgeshireLive. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
14. elworthy, john (25 March 2021). "Labour's stark warning on Cam Metro". Ely Standard. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
15. "Mayor's plan for new garden villages to pay for metro is 'barmy', claims opponent". Cambridge Independent. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
16. "Bus franchise system will be delivered in Peterborough says Metro Mayor". www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
17. "Trio fighting for role as Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mayor back Wisbech anti-incinerator campaign". Fenland Citizen. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
18. Hepburn, Louise (24 March 2021). "All Cambs mayor candidates say they oppose Wisbech incinerator". Wisbech Standard. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
19. "Astonishing Labour Victory". www.cambstimes.co.uk.
20. "Cambridgeshire mayor: 'I will listen to the experts to tackle county's challenges'". Cambridge Independent. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
21. "Mayor Nik Johnson to scrap £2 billion metro project". Varsity Online. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
22. "Former Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayor James Palmer quits politics after election defeat". Cambridge Independent. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
23. elworthy, john (11 May 2021). "Surprise attack on 'toxic' Tory brand". Ely Standard. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
24. "South Cambs deputy leader stands down from role after mayoral election loss". Cambridge Independent. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.