Regional mayors, also known as metro mayors, are directly elected regional leaders who lead mayoral strategic authorities (MSAs), which exercise devolved powers at the regional level. But what do they do?

Regional mayors are directly-elected leaders who chair mayoral strategic authorities (also known as combined authorities) to which specified functions and budgets have been devolved from Whitehall.⁴⁶ Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities, Levelling Up the United Kingdom, Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities, 2022, p.137,www.gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-the-united-kingdom. MSAs are formed of a group of local authorities at a city-regional or regional level.

The specifics of the powers of MSAs vary from place to place but typically include aspects of transport, skills, housing, and local infrastructure investment, and in some cases spatial planning, policing, health and employment support. The government’s devolution bill will establish a three-tier devolution framework that applies by default to all places, bringing greater consistency in what is devolved to each MSA.  

Mayors are intended to provide “strong local leadership” as prominent individuals that local residents can hold directly accountable.⁵¹ Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities, Levelling Up the United Kingdom, Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities, 2022, p.136,www.gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-the-united-kingdom. They also provide central government with a single point of contact when they want something done in a region.⁵² Akash Paun, Alex Nice and Lucy Rycroft, How metro mayors can help level up England, Institute for Government, 2022, p. 33,www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/report/how-metro-mayors-can-help-level-england.

Beyond exercising the powers formally devolved to them and the authorities they lead, mayors can exercise soft power as champions of place. They can use their convening power for policies requiring coordination across public services, including in areas beyond their formal brief.⁵³ Akash Paun, Alex Nice and Lucy Rycroft, How metro mayors can help level up England, Institute for Government, 2022, p. 31,www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/report/how-metro-mayors-can-help-level-england. For instance, inSouth Yorkshire, despite not having any formal powers for public health, Mayor Oliver Coppard announced the ‘Beds for Babies: Safe Space to Sleep Programme’ in 2024.⁵⁴ South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, ‘South Yorkshire’s mayor to invest £2.2 million to guarantee beds for babies – a safe space to sleep for every child aged 0-5’, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, 12 March 2024, retrieved 29 April 2024,www.southyorkshire-ca.gov.uk/news/article/12cf5653-9626-437b-b8e2-98884859c985. Similarly, in Greater Manchester, Mayor Andy Burnham established a programme to tackle rough sleeping in 2018.  

Who are England’s regional mayors?  

As of May 2025, there are 14 regional mayors (including theMayor of London, which has a different devolution model). 10 represent the Labour party, two are Conservatives and two are from Reform UK. To date, 23 different people have held the post of regional mayor somewhere in England.  

Candidates require a nomination paper signed by 100 local voters, including at least 10 from each constituent council.⁶² The Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) Order 2017 sch 1 Pt 3 para 8(1). If there are more than 10 constituent councils, the number of signatures required rises to 10 times the number of councils.⁶³ The Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) Order 2017 sch 1 Pt 3 para 8(2). For London, 330 signatures are required, including 10 from each borough and the City of London.⁶⁴ The Greater London Authority Elections Rules 2007 sch 3 Pt 3 para 7(1).

Candidates must deliver their nomination papers by 4pm on the 19th day before the election (or 24 days before in London). The returning officer then publishes the statement of persons and parties nominated by 4pm 18 working days before the election (or by noon, 22 days before for London).⁶⁵ The Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) Order 2017 sch 1 Pt 2 para 3; The Greater London Authority Elections Rules 2007 sch 3 Pt 2 para 3.

Candidates have to give a deposit of £5,000, or £10,000 if standing in London.⁶⁶ The Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) Order 2017 sch 1 Pt 3 para 10; The Greater London Authority Elections Rules 2007 sch 3 Pt 3 para 9(1).

Political parties run their own selection processes to choose their candidate, with the details determined by internal party rules. When selected, candidates submit a certificate of authorisation from the party with their nomination papers.  

Mayors do not need to be from a political party. Three regional mayors (Ken Livingstone, Jamie Driscoll and Dan Norris) have been independent during some of their mayoral tenure. In May 2025, Andrea Jenkyns and Luke Campbell – who both represent Reform UK – became the first mayors to be elected from a political party other than Labour or the Conservatives.  

Do regional mayors have to live in the local area?  

Candidates for regional mayor must have a qualifying address. This means they must be a registered voter in, live in, own land or property in, or work within the combined authority geography (including for a year before nomination and on polling day).⁶⁷ The Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) Order 2017 sch 1 Pt 3 para 6(7)-(9); Greater London Authority Act 1999 s 20.

There is no requirement to be born or to grow up in the local area, nor is there a requirement to be a British citizen.⁶⁸ Local Government Act 1972 s 79; Greater London Authority Act 1999 s 20. However, regional mayors often stand in areas they have enduring links to. Of the 23 previous and current mayors, at least ten were born within their combined authority area. Others, such as Andy Street and Paul Bristow, grew up in the area despite not being born there.  

Candidates are unable to stand for regional mayor if they are currently employed by the combined authority or a constituent council.⁷⁷ The Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) Order 2017 sch 1 Pt 3 para 9(b); Greater London Authority Act 1999 s 21. They also may not hold a politically restricted post, for example as a statutory chief officer of a local authority.⁷⁸ The Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) Order 2017 sch 1 Pt 3 para 9(b); Greater London Authority Act 1999 s 21.  

Candidates can also be barred from running if they have been imprisoned (depending on length of sentence and whether there was the option of a fine), if they are subject to a debt relief or bankruptcy restriction order, if they have been found guilty for illegal or corrupt electoral practices (within certain time restrictions), or if they are subject to the notification requirement of or under part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.⁷⁹ The Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) Order 2017 sch 1 Pt 3 para 9(b); Greater London Authority Act 1999 s 21-21A.

Mayors who exercisepolice and crime commissioner (PCC) functions cannot simultaneously serve as a Member of Parliament, or hold other roles such as being a member of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.⁸⁰ Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 c. 20 s 64-68.

In September 2024, the Labour party introduced rules that sitting MPs cannot stand as Labour mayoral candidates.⁸¹ Prince D, ‘”No MP should get second job” as rules change to affect metro mayor Dan Norris’, BristolLive, 25 September 2024, retrieved 19 May 2025,www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/no-mp-should-second-job-9577045 The government announced in the English devolution white paper that it will introduce proposals to prevent all mayors from simultaneously serving as a Member of Parliament.⁸² MHCLG, English Devolution White Paper: Power and partnership: Foundations for growth, p. 111, retrieved 3 July 2025,www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-devolution-white-paper-power-andpartnership-foundations-for-growth  

Mayors also cannot simultaneously serve as a local councillor. A councillor elected as mayor must step down from the former role.  

How are mayors elected?

The most recent mayoral elections were held on 1 May 2025 in theWest of England,Cambridgeshire and Peterborough,Greater Lincolnshire, andHull and East Yorkshire.

Since the implementation of the Elections Act 2022,mayoral elections in England have used the first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system.⁸³ Elections Act 2022 c. 37. Prior to this, mayoral elections used the supplementary voting (SV) system. 

In 2025, the Labour government published a bill proposing to return to the SV for mayoral elections. The government has stated that: “While elections to councils and parliaments using First Past the Post provides an opportunity for the electorate to select a range of candidates to take office and create a body where differing views and policies are represented, the same benefits do not apply when electing to a single-person executive position".⁸⁴ English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill: Explanatory Notes, July 2025,https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0283/en/240283en.pdf

Under FPTP, mayors can be elected with substantially less than a majority of votes; for example, the West of England and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayors won less than 30% of the vote in 2025. 

Mayors’ salaries vary. The average salary of the 12 regional mayors in 2024/25 was £102,458.17.⁸⁷ This figure does not include the salary of the mayor of the West Midlands for 2024/25, which is not publicly available. Themayor of Greater London had the highest salary at £160,976 a year, and theTees Valley mayor had the lowest salary at £65,000 a year. In 2025/26, the salary for themayor of Hull and East Yorkshire is £72,000 and theGreater Lincolnshire mayor’s salary is £86,060.  

Mayors cannot vote on their own salary, so rely on their combined authority members voting on whether to accept the recommendations of an Independent Renumeration Panel (IRP). Previous IRPs have considered other mayors’ salaries, police and crime commissioners’ salaries andMP salaries as comparators.⁸⁸ Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, ‘Report of the Independent Renumeration Panel: Metro Mayor renumeration 2022-4’, no date, retrieved 12 February 2024, liverpoolcityregion-ca.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s62266/Enc.%201%20for%20Independent%20Remuneration%20Panel%20-%20Metro%20Mayor%20Remuneration.pdf