The Mayor of the West of England is the
directly elected
Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...
mayor responsible for the strategic government of the
West of England
West of England is a combined authority area in South West England. It is made up of the Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset unitary authorities. The combined authority is led by the Mayor of the West of England Dan ...
, including planning, transport and skills. For this purpose the West of England is defined as the local authority areas of
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
,
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming part ...
, and
Bath and North East Somerset
Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) is a unitary authority district in England. Bath and North East Somerset Council was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the county of Avon. It is part of the ceremonial county of Somerset.
Th ...
. The creation of the role was agreed in 2016 by the then
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...
and the leaders of the three councils.
Elections use the
supplementary vote system, where electors can vote for "first preference" and "second preference" candidates. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, all but the two leading candidates are eliminated and the votes of those eliminated are redistributed according to their second-choice votes to determine the winner.
The first election took place on
4 May 2017, and 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.
List of mayors
;Timeline
Elections
2021
2017
Turnout in the election was: 29.3%
See also
*
Mayor of Bath
*
Mayor of Bristol
The Mayor of Bristol is the head of government of Bristol and the chief executive of the Bristol City Council. The mayor is a directly elected politician who, along with the 70 members of Bristol City Council, is responsible for the strategic ...
*
History of local government in Bristol § Mayors
References
External links
West of England Combined Authority
{{Combined authorities
West of England
West of England is a combined authority area in South West England. It is made up of the Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset unitary authorities. The combined authority is led by the Mayor of the West of England Dan ...
Local government in Bristol
Politics of Bristol
Politics of Bath and North East Somerset
Politics of South Gloucestershire District