2021 West of England mayoral election

The second West of England mayoral election will be held in 6 May 2021[1] to elect the Mayor of the West of England on the same day as other local elections across the country. The mayor will be elected by the supplementary vote.

West of England election, 2021

6 May 2021 For details of all candidates see the article

Candidate Tim Bowles Stephen Williams Party Conservative Labour Liberal Democrats

Incumbent Conservative mayor Tim Bowles will be seeking re-election. The Liberal Democrats have re-selected their 2017 candidate, former MP for Bristol West Stephen Williams. The Labour Party is currently going through the selection process.

Background

The West of England as a term has been used as a synonym for either South-West England or the former County of Avon which was abolished in the 1996. The West of England Combined Authority (WECA) is a statutory body which covers the areas of Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset.[2][3] It broadly resembles the County of Avon. However, it does not have North Somerset because the council vetoed their joining the WECA; though they collaborate on some projects.[4][5] The Mayor of the West of England is the democratically elected head of the WECA, and has powers over a £30m a year budget from the government, transport management, strategic planning of land and housing and the adult education budget.[6][5]

The first election with took place in 2017, saw Conservative candidate Tim Bowles win with 52% in the second round, the turnout was 29.7%, which was considered low by journalists.[3]

The urban think-tank Centre for Cities looked at the results of local elections in the West of England for 2018 and 2019 to make a prediction of the result and found Consevatives had suffered considerable losses in Bath and North East Somerset, stating that it "looks set to be tough for the incumbent".[7]

Though this election was scheduled to take place in 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom led to the elections planned to take place in May 2020 being delayed to occur at the same time, this includes elections for many other metro mayors across England.[8][9][10] This means that the West of England Mayor will be elected the same time as the Mayor of Bristol, Bristol City Council and the Police and crime commissioner for Avon and Somerset Constabulary.[11]

Voting system

The election will use a supplementary vote system, in which voters express a first and a second preference for candidates.[12]

• 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 top two candidates proceed to a second round and all other candidates are eliminated.
• The first preference votes for the remaining two candidates stand in the final count.
• Voters' ballots whose first and second preference candidates are eliminated are discarded.
• Voters whose first preference candidates have been eliminated and whose second preference candidate is one of the top two have their second preference votes added to that candidate's count.

This means that the winning candidate has the support of a majority of voters who expressed a preference among the top two.[13]

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in the West of England aged 18 or over on 7 May 2020 will be entitled to vote in the mayoral election. Those who are temporarily away from Tees Valley (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) will also be entitled to vote in the mayoral election. The deadline to register to vote in the election will be announced nearer the election.[14]

Candidates

Conservative Party

Incumbent metro mayor Tim Bowles, former councillor in South Gloucestershire and president of Bristol and South Gloucestershire Conservative Association,[3][2] is standing for re-election.

Labour Party

Liberal Democrats

Stephen Williams, MP for Bristol West 2005-2015 and former minister for communities and local government, is the candidate for the Liberal Democrats for the mayoralty.[4][15]

References

1. "The West of England Combined Authority Order 2017", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2017/126
2. Pipe, Ellie (23 July 2020). "Metro mayor on the future of transport in the Bristol region". Bristol 24/7. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
3. "Meet the mayors: Who are the new leaders?". BBC News. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
4. Grubb, Sophie (24 July 2020). "West of England Mayor election 2021: Lib Dems announce candidate". BristolLive. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
5. Ashcroft, Esme (4 May 2018). "Weca Metro Mayor marks first anniversary - but what has he done?". Bristol Post. Reach plc. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
6. "Combine Authority Factsheet West of England". Centre for Cities. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
7. Jeffrey, Simon; Bell, Owen (11 August 2020). "What do the local elections tell us about the upcoming metro mayor elections?". Centre for Cities. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
8. "Local elections postponed for a year over coronavirus". BBC News. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
9. Elledge, Jonn. "What is happening with England's mayoral elections? | CityMetric". City Metric. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
10. Roberts, Jane (11 August 2020). "Assessing England's metro-mayors: a mixed picture". Democratic Audit. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
11. Wilson, Kate (7 May 2020). "Bristol's next mayor will serve three-year term after 2020 elections postponed". Bristol Post. Reach plc. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
12. "Tory elected West of England mayor". BBC News. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
13. Elledge, Jonnk (2 May 2012). "London Elections: How The Voting System Works". The Londonist. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
14. "What is the Supplementary Vote? | Nudge Factory". Nudge Factory. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
15. "Lib Dems announce candidate for 2021 West of England mayoral election". Bath Echo. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.