| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 27.5% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Election result by council areas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2024 East Midlands mayoral election was held on 2 May 2024 to elect the first mayor of the East Midlands. It was part of the local elections across England and Wales.
The election was won by the Labour candidate, Claire Ward. [1]
The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 introduced directly elected mayors for combined authorities. Combined authorities cover multiple local government areas. A combined authority covering Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire was first proposed in 2016. Some later proposals also included Leicestershire. Ultimately, the East Midlands Combined Authority included only Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, covering the region of Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottingham City Council, Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council. During consultation, a minority of respondents supported the introduction of a mayor for the region. [2] The local authorities concerned voted to proceed with devolution plans, including the establishment of a directly elected mayor of the East Midlands, in March 2023. [3]
The election took place under first-past-the-post voting. Voters were able to vote for one candidate, and the candidate with the greatest numbers of votes became the mayor of the East Midlands.
The Conservative candidate Ben Bradley, the independent candidate Matt Relf and the Labour candidate Claire Ward all said they would fund the continuation of concessions for elderly and disabled tram passengers from the mayoral budget. [4] Bradley was endorsed by the Nottingham Independents political party. [5]
Labour Party candidate Clare Ward made commitments to launch a 'Visit East Midlands' campaign to encourage tourism, a Community Development Fund to regenerate high streets, a Mayor's Homelessness Task Force to lessen the amount of rough sleeping, and a Green Growth Fund to create new jobs in the East Midlands while lowering emissions. Other focuses would include improving transport in the area – including road resurfacing and integrated ticketing between services – and building more homes on brownfield sites. [6]
Green Party candidate Frank Adlington-Stringer committed to a 'Green Industrial Revolution' which would include £16.8m into sustainable and affordable housing, training for job-seekers, and an overhaul of the public transport network with free travel for young people and a "London-style" ticketing system. [7] [8] He further committed to ending rough sleeping, bringing the bus network back into public control and negotiating reparations from the Government for the regional impacts of austerity. [9] Adlington-Stringer committed to keeping the Mayors Office in Chesterfield, as well as to donating all of his salary beyond the average wage to charity. [10]
The Conservative Party selected the MP for Mansfield and Nottinghamshire council leader Ben Bradley as their candidate in September 2023. [11]
The leader of Derbyshire County Council, Barry Lewis, unsuccessfully sought the Conservative nomination. [12] Lewis said he would seek to support the manufacturing industry and oppose any proposals for ultra low-emission zone schemes. [12]
Labour opened applications in May 2023. [13] There were five candidates considered. [14]
On 4 August 2023, the former MP Claire Ward was selected with 50.4% of the vote. [15] Ward promised to build new affordable homes, integrate public transport and fund "thousands of new green jobs". [15]
Nominated
Lost nomination
Not shortlisted
| Labour East Midlands mayoral candidate selection [17] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Claire Ward | 50.3% | |
| Paddy Tipping | 34.3% | |
| John Hess | 15.4% | |
The Liberal Democrat candidate was Helen Tamblyn-Saville, a former district councillor who also stood in the 2019 general election in Bassetlaw constituency. [18]
Alan Graves, the mayor of Derby, who has served as a councillor since 2002 for Labour, as an independent, for the UK Independence Party, the Brexit Party and Reform UK, was announced as the Reform UK candidate for mayor. He said he would try to get the role of mayor of the East Midlands abolished. [19]
Matt Relf, an Ashfield Independents councillor, announced that he would run as an independent candidate, saying he could work with both Labour and Conservative councils. [20]
The Green Party initially said they would not stand a candidate. [17] However, in January 2024 the party invited nominations and on 10 February announced North East Derbyshire councillor Frank Adlington-Stringer as their candidate. [21]
| Dates conducted | Pollster | Client | Sample size | Ward Lab | Bradley Con | Graves Reform | Adlington-Stringer Green | Tamblyn-Saville Lib Dems | Relf Ind | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19–24 Apr 2024 | More in Common | N/A | 2,029 | 41% | 28% | 14% | 9% | 4% | 4% | 13 |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Claire Ward | 181,040 | 40.3 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Ben Bradley | 129,332 | 28.8 | N/A | |
| Green | Frank Adlington-Stringer | 50,666 | 11.3 | N/A | |
| Reform UK | Alan Graves | 49,201 | 10.9 | N/A | |
| Independent | Matt Relf | 23,359 | 5.2 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Helen Tamblyn-Saville | 15,970 | 3.6 | N/A | |
| Majority | 51,708 | 11.5 | N/A | ||
| Rejected ballots | 2,858 | 0.64 | |||
| Turnout | 449,568 | 27.5 | N/A | ||
Claire Margaret Ward is a British Labour Party politician who was elected Mayor of the East Midlands in May 2024. Previously, she served as Member of Parliament for Watford from 1997 to 2010. Ward was a Government Whip from 2005 to 2009 and a Justice Minister from 2009 to 2010.
The North Midlands is a loosely defined area covering the northern parts of the Midlands in England. It is not one of the ITL regions like the East Midlands or the West Midlands.
Mansfield is a constituency created in 1885 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Ben Bradley of the Conservative Party, who gained the seat at the 2017 general election, from the Labour Party. This is the first time the seat has been represented by a Conservative since its creation in 1885.
Nottingham City Council is the local authority for Nottingham, a unitary authority with city status. Nottingham is in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England, but as a unitary authority the city council is administratively independent from the surrounding Nottinghamshire County Council. The city council consists of 55 councillors, representing a total of 20 wards, elected every four years. The council is led by David Mellen, of the majority Labour Party. The council is a constituent member of the East Midlands Combined County Authority.
Derbyshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Derby. The county council is based at County Hall in Matlock. Since 2017 the council has been under Conservative majority control. The council is a constituent member of the East Midlands Combined County Authority.
The city of Bristol, England, is a unitary authority, represented by four MPs representing seats wholly within the city boundaries. The overall trend of both local and national representation became left of centre during the latter 20th century. The city has a tradition of local activism, with environmental issues and sustainable transport being prominent issues in the city.
Benjamin David Bradley is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, since the 2017 general election.
Derby City Council is the local authority for Derby, a unitary authority with city status in the East Midlands region of England.
The Yorkshire Party is a regionalist political party in Yorkshire, a historic county of England. The party, which was founded in 2014, campaigns for the establishment of a devolved Yorkshire Parliament within the United Kingdom, with powers over education, environment, transportation and housing.
The North East Party (NEP) is a regionalist political party in North East England founded in 2014 by a group of 16 people including the former Labour MP; Hilton Dawson, and 7 members of the FAIR party. The party campaigns for a better deal for North East England generally and was committed to a devolved assembly in the North East with powers similar to those in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, if approved by a referendum. It says bodies such as the North East Combined Authority do not have a mandate to take on new responsibilities and representatives must be directly-elected. Dawson stepped down as Chair of the party in June 2016 and was replaced by John Tait. Dawson remained active in the party taking on the role of Secretary and Nominating Officer.
The inaugural West Midlands mayoral election was held on 4 May 2017 to elect the Mayor of the West Midlands, with subsequent elections to be held every four years from May 2020. The election took place alongside five elections for English metro mayors and other local elections, and ahead of the general election on 8 June 2017.
The 2017 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 4 May 2017. Local elections were held across Great Britain, with elections to 35 English local authorities and all councils in Scotland and Wales.
The Ashfield Independents are a political party in the Ashfield District in Nottinghamshire, England.
The inaugural West Yorkshire mayoral election was held on Thursday 6 May 2021 to elect the Mayor of West Yorkshire. It took place simultaneously on the same day as other local elections across the United Kingdom, including council elections in each of the five metropolitan boroughs of West Yorkshire.
The 2022 Birmingham City Council election took place on 5 May 2022, with all 101 council seats up for election across 37 single-member and 32 two-member wards. The election was held alongside other local elections across Great Britain and town council elections in Sutton Coldfield.
The 2022 South Yorkshire mayoral election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect the Mayor of South Yorkshire, the leader of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority. It took place alongside other local elections across the United Kingdom. The Labour Party candidate, Oliver Coppard, won the election in the second round with 71.4% of the vote.
The 2024 United Kingdom local elections took place on 2 May 2024 to choose around 2,600 councillors on 107 councils in England, 11 directly elected mayors in England, the 25 members of the London Assembly, and 37 police and crime commissioners in England and Wales. The 2024 Blackpool South parliamentary by-election was held on the same day.
A by-election took place on 15 February 2024 in the UK Parliament constituency of Kingswood in South Gloucestershire. This followed the resignation of Conservative MP Chris Skidmore, in protest at the UK government's decision to issue more oil and gas licences. Skidmore announced his resignation on 5 January and it was effected three days later.
The Mayor of the East Midlands is a combined county authority mayor of the new East Midlands Combined County Authority, to be elected for the first time in May 2024.
