The elections for metro mayors provides an insight into public interest in governance at the regional level. This relatively new position introduces the opportunity for greater spatial coordination between local authorities in a combined metro region and greater accountability at the regional level. Turnout for metro mayor elections this year were notably higher than they had been in 2016 or 2017, suggesting that this interest in regional cooperation and devolution has not waned.
The metro regions were joined by West Yorkshire which held its first metro mayor election this year after coming to a devolution deal in 2020 which provided £1.8bn of spending powers for the region. It saw the election of Tracy Brabin (Labour) as the first metro mayor.
Most of the metro areas saw incumbent mayors up for re-election. In the cases where they were returned to office, most of which with an improved result from the previous election. The minor exception to this is Steve Rotheram (Labour) who, despite winning with 58.3% of ballots cast in the first round, lost 1% of the voter share from the 2017 election. This is largely the result of increased support for both the Greens and Liberal Democrats who made sizeable gains compared to their 2017 results.
Greater Manchester overwhelming re-elected Andy Burnham who had been a strong voice for the region. Notably, Burnham has shown an interest in focusing development on brownfield sites and city centres, aiming to minimise greenbelt development. Despite the difficulty of coordinating development goals with local councils in the metro region, his re-election largely affirms his ambitions in the region.
The most significant increase in an incumbent mayor’s voter share from the previous election came from Ben Houchen (Conservative) of the Tees Valley who won this election with a commanding 73% of the first round votes. Houchen had campaigned heavily on infrastructure improvements and economic development of the region, including the purchase and expansion of the Teeside International Airport.
Two metro mayors changed hands: Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and West of England, both moving from Conservative to Labour. These changes reflect an interesting dynamic of the election where the regional mayor elections tended to favour Labour. Asides from notable losses in the councils of Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire—potentially due to the high growth pressures in these areas—the Conservatives saw considerable success in council elections across the country.
These council elections are inherently more focused on local and neighbourhood concerns. It is likely that many of these councils saw Conservative gains as a push-back to new developments and some degree of NIMBYism. For example, the Tory win in Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council reflects distress over a plan to deliver 14,000 homes across the borough similar to a Tory gain in Basildon Council which had been planning on a £1 billion town centre development.
Broader Tory gains in the North could be riding on the coat-tails of the government’s promise of ‘Levelling Up’ with new investment as well as the government’s current popularity (which has made gains in recent months). Regardless of whether each election was decided by local or national factors, the success of Labour’s metro mayors and Conservative councillors inevitably suggests that a great deal of cooperation between parties will be necessary to achieve more regional ambitions.
