Labour candidate Claire Ward wins the election to become the first-ever East Midlands Mayor.
The result was announced by Nottingham City Council who administered the count today at the Lexus Tennis Centre in Nottingham:
RESULT:
Frank Adlington-Stringer, Green Party, 50,666 votes
Ben Bradley, The Conservative Party Candidate, 129,332 votes
Alan Graves, Reform UK, 49,201 votes
Matt Relf, Independent, 23,359 votes
Helen Louise Tamblyn-Saville, Liberal Democrat, 15,970 votes
Claire Margaret Ward, Labour and Co-operative Party, 181,040 votes
In the buildup to the election on 2 May Ms Ward said:
‘This is a big job. There are six key priorities for me, These include getting a grip on roads, buses and trains, supporting the local economy and high streets, building homes, launching a Visit East Midlands campaign, delivering jobs and skills and working towards a green transition.
“I certainly want to get a grip of our roads, our buses and our trains. That means getting quality road resurfacing, but also holding the councils to account for fixing them,” she added.
“I want to make sure we work with the bus companies initially to see if we can get those services and routes that are needed across our communities.
“I am really clear though that if we don’t get those agreements working for the benefit of the public we will then move to franchising models.
“I want to see integrated ticketing. Tap and go. We need affordable fares and more active travel.
“I want to set up a community development fund to support community-led initiatives to helping revitalise the local high streets and giving some control back.
“I want a free skills audit linked to NHS health checks to make sure people are not just fit for work but also have the skills they need.
“I want to launch a visit East Midlands campaign to put the region on the map.
“We need new accommodation to be able to make sure we have got the space for all these new visitors.
“We want a greener East Midlands. I want a mayor’s taskforce around nature and biodiversity. The expertise is out there in our region, I want to bring it in to help us with that policy-making.
“The other is building the homes we need. Building affordable homes, making sure they are energy efficient.”
Ms Ward also said she wanted to set up a youth panel involving young people in decision-making, alongside citizen assemblies and questioning panels for the public.
