The Heart of Wessex Combined Authority is a proposed combined authority in south-west England. The proposal is linked to the English Devolution Bill, first outlined in 2024 by the Starmer ministry. [1] The region would have a directly elected mayor. [2]
In 2023, Dorset Council proposed to form a devolved authority named "Wessex" with Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP), Somerset Council, North Somerset Council and Wiltshire Council. [3] The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom.
In January 2025, following a vote by Wiltshire Council, the leaders of Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire councils said they had written to the UK government to show support for devolution of powers to the proposed combined authority. This was despite reservations among Wiltshire councillors who felt that a mayor was "not right for a large rural area". The three leaders said they remained open to discussions with BCP, Swindon Borough Council and North Somerset Council. [4] [5]
In the same month, BCP councillors voted in favour of joining the three largely rural counties, rather than supporting the Hampshire and Solent proposal involving Hampshire, Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. [6] Council leader Millie Earl described it as the "best option". [7] [8]
In December 2024, Mid Dorset and North Poole MP Vikki Slade compared a proposed Wessex mayor to the Thomas Hardy character Jude the Obscure from his Wessex fictional literary landscape. [9]