The race to be elected the next Metro Mayor for the West of England has got under way.
Arron Banks, Steve Smith, Helen Godwin, Mary Page, Oli Henman and Ian Scott | Photo © WECA
All six candidates for the role appeared together at the West of England Combined Authority headquarters in Bristol yesterday, as campaigning kicks off for the election on Thursday 1st May.
The mayor is responsible for improving transport across the region and attracting and delivering major investment — and the role is only set to become more powerful under the Labour government’s “English Devolution” plans.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Conservative candidate and former Bristol City councillor Steve Smith said he would stop funding for more controversial liveable neighbourhoods in Bath and Bristol.
Meanwhile Liberal Democrat candidate Oli Henman, who is a councillor on Bath & North East Somerset Council, said the Liberal Democrats were the only party who could “bring everyone together” and come up with a joint plan in the region.
Green candidate Mary Page said it was not hypocritical to run for Metro Mayor after successfully campaigning to scrap Bristol’s elected mayor, who ran the city council.
She said the Mayor of Bristol, who was directly elected, was a “dictatorial” role while the Metro Mayor role was about bringing people together.
Brexit campaign donor and now Reform UK candidate Arron Banks stood by his 2017 comments describing Bristol as a “little Somalia”. He then blamed Somalians and Romanians for crime in the city. He also said the role had very little power and there wasn’t much it could get done.
Labour candidate Helen Godwin said she wanted to “get the buses sorted first”, and would not take anything off the table in terms of a mass transport network.
But longtime Labour South Gloucestershire councillor Ian Scott, who is standing as an independent candidate after repeatedly not being selected as Labour’s Metro Mayor candidate, said he had more experience than her. He said he was not going to make any commitments before being elected.
Current Labour mayor Dan Norris was elected in 2021 but since the 2024 general election he has also been the MP for North East Somerset and Hanham. Under Labour Party policy, he is not running for re-election as mayor.
The full list of candidates is (in alphabetical order):
- Arron Banks (Reform UK)
- Helen Godwin (Labour)
- Oli Henman (Liberal Democrat)
- Mary Page (Green)
- Ian Scott (Independent)
- Steve Smith (Conservative)
A spokesperson for the West of England Combined Authority said: “Registered voters across the region will have the opportunity to elect the next West of England Combined Authority Mayor in four weeks’ time on 1st May 2025, with six candidates to choose from.
“The combined authority plays a key role in the West of England, including areas such as jobs and growth, transport, skills, the environment, planning and housing, and business support.
“It’s important that anyone who wants their say in the future of the region is registered to vote by 11 April to make your vote count in the election on 1st May.”
The spokesperson added: “The need to present ID as part of the voting process is still relatively new and so we are looking to encourage everyone to remember the need to bring ID with you to vote, and to signpost people to where they can learn more about what forms of ID are accepted.
If you are unsure that you have the right form of ID, please go online to check today: www.gov.uk/how-to-vote/photo-id-youll-need.”
The deadline to register to vote in the election is midnight on Friday 11th April. You can register to vote here: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
You will need to bring one of the accepted forms of photo ID with you to vote. If you do not have an accepted form of photo ID, you can apply for a temporary ID called a voter authority certificate until 5pm on Wednesday 23rd April here: https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate
John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter
