mayor of the West of England
{{Short description|Mayoral post in England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = Mayor
| body = the West of England
| insignia = Logo of the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.svg
| insigniasize =
| insigniacaption =
| image = Helen Godwin 2025.jpg
| imagesize =
| alt =
| incumbent = Helen Godwin
| incumbentsince = 5 May 2025
| style = MayorLocal Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, s 107A(5)
| residence = Rivergate House, 70 Redcliff St, Bristol
| termlength = 4 years
| formation = 9 February 2017
| appointer = Electorate of the West of England
| succession =
| inaugural = Tim Bowles
| website = {{url|https://www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk/about-us/the-mayor/|WECA / The Mayor}}
| member_of = West of England Combined Authority
Council of the Nations and Regions
Mayoral Council for England
| constituting_instrument = Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016
}}
File:West of England Combined Authority UK map.svg
The mayor of the West of England is the directly elected mayor who leads the West of England Combined Authority. The body, a combined authority, is responsible for strategic administration, including planning, transport and skills, across the local authority areas of Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset. The creation of the role was agreed in 2016 as part of a devolution deal, by the then Chancellor George Osborne and the leaders of the three councils.{{cite news |date=16 March 2016|title=West of England £1bn devolution deal announced in Budget|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-35823771|publisher=BBC News}}
The West of England Combined Authority Order 2017, which created the body with effect from 9 February 2017, specifies that mayoral elections are to be held every fourth year, commencing on 4 May 2017.{{Cite web |date=8 February 2017 |title=The West of England Combined Authority Order 2017 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/126/made |access-date=28 November 2024 |website=legislation.gov.uk |at=part 2, section 5}} At first, elections used the supplementary vote system, where electors voted for "first preference" and "second preference" candidates. If no candidate received a majority of first-choice votes, all but the two leading candidates were eliminated and the votes of those eliminated were redistributed according to their second-choice votes to determine the winner. The 2025 West of England mayoral election used first past the post as required by the Elections Act 2022.
The first election on 4 May 2017 was won by Tim Bowles with a total of 70,300 votes, including second preferences. The turnout was 29.7%, with 199,519 voting out of the possible 671,280.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/6a80004c-c5cc-410c-a925-aac236d98167/mayor-of-the-west-of-england|title=Mayor of the West of England|date=5 May 2017|work=BBC News|accessdate=5 May 2017}}
The mayor is a member of the Mayoral Council for England and the Council of the Nations and Regions.
List of mayors
| class="wikitable"
! Name ! Portrait ! colspan=2|Term of office ! Elected ! colspan=2|Political party ! Previous and concurrent occupations |
| Tim Bowles
| 80px | 8 May 2017 | 9 May 2021 | 2017 | style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | Former district councillor for Winterbourne |
| rowspan="2" |Dan Norris
| rowspan="2" | 80px | rowspan="2" | 10 May 2021 | rowspan="2" | 4 May 2025 | rowspan="2" | 2021 | style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Labour | rowspan="2" | MP for North East Somerset and Hanham as of the 2024 general election. |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Independent politician}}" |
| Independent (from {{nowrap|5 April}} 2025){{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czx48gq0y77o |title=MP Dan Norris arrested on suspicion of child sex offences and rape |date=5 April 2025 |website=BBC News |publisher=BBC News |accessdate=6 April 2025}} |
| Helen Godwin
| 80px | 5 May 2025 | Incumbent | 2025 | style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Labour | Former councillor for Southmead and cabinet member of Bristol City Council |
;Timeline
{{#tag:timeline|
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id:con value:rgb(0.094,0.525,0.800) legend:Conservative
id:lab value:rgb(0.937,0.094,0.129) legend:Labour
id:ind value:rgb(0.863,0.863,0.863) legend:Independent
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from: 08/05/2017 till: 08/05/2021 color:con text:"Tim Bowles" fontsize:10
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from: 08/05/2021 till: 05/04/2025 color:lab
from: 05/04/2025 till: 04/05/2025 color:ind text:"Dan Norris" fontsize:10
bar:Godwin
from: 05/05/2025 till: {{#time:d/m/Y}} color:lab text:"Helen Godwin" fontsize:10
}}
Elections
=2025=
This election was run under first-past-the-post for the first time.
{{Election box begin|title=West of England Mayoral election 1 May 2025}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link|party=Labour Party (UK)|candidate=Helen Godwin|votes=51,197|percentage=25.0%|change={{decrease}} 8.4}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Reform UK|candidate=Arron Banks|votes=45,252|percentage=22.1%|change=N/A}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Green Party of England and Wales|candidate=Mary Page|votes=41,094|percentage=20.0%|change={{decrease}} 1.7}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Conservative Party (UK)|candidate=Steve Smith|votes=34,092|percentage=16.6%|change={{decrease}} 12.0}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Liberal Democrats (UK)|candidate=Oli Henman|votes=28,711|percentage=14.0%|change={{decrease}} 2.3}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Independent politician|candidate=Ian Scott|votes=4,682|percentage=2.3%|change=N/A}}
{{Election box majority|votes=5,945|percentage=2.9|change={{decrease}} 1.9}}
{{Election box turnout|votes=205,028|percentage=30.0|change={{decrease}} 6.6}}
{{Election box registered electors|reg. electors=682,961}}
{{Election box hold with party link|winner=Labour Party (UK)|swing={{decrease}}15.3}}
{{Election box end}}
=2021=
{{Election box supplementary vote begin
| title = West of England Mayoral election 6 May 2021{{cite web |url=https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/west-england-metro-mayor-election-5295487|title= West of England metro mayor election 2021: Candidates, what does the metro mayor do and everything you need to know|work= Bristol Live|year=2021|access-date=17 April 2021}}
| source=
}}
{{Election box supplementary vote candidate with party link
|party = Labour Party (UK)
|candidate = Dan Norris
| fullwidthvotes=125482| r1votes=84434| r1votespercent=33.4| r2votes=41048|totalpercent=59.5
}}
{{Election box supplementary vote candidate with party link
|party = Conservative Party (UK)
|candidate = Samuel Williams
| fullwidthvotes=125482| r1votes=72415| r1votespercent=28.6| r2votes=12974|totalpercent=40.5
}}
{{Election box supplementary vote candidate with party link
|party = Green Party of England and Wales
|candidate = Jerome Thomas
| fullwidthvotes=125482| r1votes=54919| r1votespercent=21.7
}}
{{Election box supplementary vote candidate with party link
|party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
|candidate = Stephen Williams
| fullwidthvotes=125482| r1votes=41193| r1votespercent=16.3
}}
{{Election box end}}
=2017=
{{Election box supplementary vote begin
| title = West of England Mayoral election 4 May 2017{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cmj34zmwxn0t/mayor-of-the-west-of-england|title= Mayor of the West of England|work= BBC News|year=2017|access-date=17 April 2021}}
| source=
}}
{{Election box supplementary vote candidate with party link
|party = Conservative Party (UK)
|candidate = Tim Bowles
| fullwidthvotes=53796| r1votes=53796| r1votespercent=27.3| r2votes=16504|totalpercent=51.6
}}
{{Election box supplementary vote candidate with party link
|party = Labour Party (UK)
|candidate = Lesley Mansell
| fullwidthvotes=53796| r1votes=43627| r1votespercent=22.2| r2votes=22296 |totalpercent=48.4
}}
{{Election box supplementary vote candidate with party link
|party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
|candidate = Stephen Williams
| fullwidthvotes=53796| r1votes=39794| r1votespercent=20.2
}}
{{Election box supplementary vote candidate with party link
|party = Independent (politician)
|candidate = John Savage
| fullwidthvotes=53796| r1votes=29500| r1votespercent=15.0
}}
{{Election box supplementary vote candidate with party link
|party = Green Party of England and Wales
|candidate = Darren Hall
| fullwidthvotes=53796| r1votes=22054| r1votespercent=11.2
}}
{{Election box supplementary vote candidate with party link
|party = UK Independence Party
|candidate = Aaron Foot
| fullwidthvotes=53796| r1votes=8182| r1votespercent=4.2
}}
{{Election box end}}
Turnout in the election was: 29.3%
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk West of England Combined Authority]
{{Directly elected mayors in the United Kingdom}}
{{Combined authorities}}
Category:Local government in Bristol
Category:Politics of Bath and North East Somerset