Conservative candidate Tim Bowles has been elected as Mayor of the West of England Combined Authority, following yesterday’s election across Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire.
The result was announced earlier this morning, Friday 5th May 2017, by Stephen Hughes, the West of England Combined Authority Returning Officer.
Mr Bowles was declared the winner of the election following an overnight count that saw 199,519 ballots verified by elections staff across Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire.
Mr Bowles received 70,300 votes, finishing ahead of Lesley Mansell (Labour and Co-operative Party) who received 65,923 votes after the counting of first and second preference votes when no single candidate received more than 50% of first preference votes.
A full breakdown of the election results are available on the West of England Combined Authority website and can be found here.
The prospective parliamentary Conservative candidate for Bath, Ben Howlett, said: “May I offer my congratulations to our first ever Conservative West of England Mayor Tim Bowles.
“It has been a pleasure to campaign alongside him across Bath as we look to solve some of the major issues facing our city, air pollution, transport, housing and skills.
“I have already discussed the long-overdue A36-46 link road to the East of Bath and received his support during the campaign. If I am re-elected on June 8th I look forwards to working with him to turn this project into a reality.
“Securing a Conservative West of England Mayor has just made this project one step closer towards delivery.”
Katie Teasdale, External Affairs Manager at the National Housing Federation, added:
“We would like to congratulate Tim Bowles on winning the election and becoming the first Mayor of the West of England combined authority.
“He now has a unique opportunity to end the region’s housing crisis and a critical role to play in transforming the West of England for future generations.
“Housing associations are ready to work with Tim to create jobs, boost skills and improve the wellbeing of local people, but most significantly to deliver vital new affordable homes where they are needed most.
“There is an acute housing crisis in the West of England, where house prices are rising faster than local wages and pushing affordable housing out of reach for far too many.
“Housing associations have a track record of delivering across the West of England, so it’s time for us to get on with the job – we can work with Tim to solve this housing crisis once and for all.”