Who can I vote for in the May elections? Mayoral candidates in your area
Just under 25 million people in England are served by a mayor up for election this May, alongside the local elections.
Mayoral contests may be the newest addition to the British electoral cycle, but they are no less significant. Directly elected mayors have wide-ranging devolved powers over economic development, housing policy, transport infrastructure, skills and environmental regulation.
The Mayor of London and the Mayor of Greater Manchester’s responsibilities also cover policing, and fire and rescue services.
When are the May elections in 2024?
On Thursday, May 2, the citizens of nine Combined Authority areas – voluntary alliances of two or more councils collaborating on decisions that cross their borders – and London, will head to the polls.
This will include three new regions electing a metro mayor for the first time: the East Midlands, York and North Yorkshire and the recently expanded North East (absorbing the former North of Tyne Combined Authority).
Enter your postcode into our searchable tool below to see who you could vote for in your area.
Who can I vote for in the May elections?
In London, Labour’s Sadiq Khan is seeking a historic third term as mayor. After eight years at the helm of the Greater London Authority, and bearing ultimate responsibility for the Metropolitan Police, he has come under fire for rising crime, increasingly unaffordable housing and the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone.
Conservative challenger Susan Hall, a former councillor and current London Assembly member, has pledged to end the “war on motorists” by scrapping the Ulez expansion on day one.
The Liberal Democrats are fielding Rob Blackie, who has set fixing the Met as his number one priority, while motoring campaigner Howard Cox is standing for Reform promising to scrap Ulez altogether.
Elsewhere in the country, Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham is up for re-election against the Conservatives’ Laura Evans – the former Trafford councillor who came second in the previous contest. Dan Barker was previously selected as the Tory candidate, but defected to Reform to join the “new home of conservatism”.
Most regional mayoral positions are currently Labour-held. Steve Rotherham has been leading the Liverpool City Region since its establishment in 2017, as has Tracy Brabin in West Yorkshire since 2021.
In the West Midlands, incumbent Conservative mayor Andy Street has urged voters to “distinguish between party and me” as polls show him trailing Labour’s Richard Parker.
In Tees Valley, Ben Houchen, made a peer in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours, has been mayor since 2017, winning a sizeable majority last time round in 2021. Chris McEwan is standing for Labour, and Simon Thorley for the Liberal Democrats.
