Claire Ward will serve as the first ever East Midlands Mayor for the next four years after winning the election with more than 180,000 votes. Voters across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire headed to polling stations on Thursday (May 2) to decide who should get the crucial job, with six candidates having stood in the election overall.
Turnout in the election was 27.6% and the overall winner of the race was announced by Nottingham City Council boss Mel Barrett at the Nottingham Tennis Centre this afternoon (Friday, May 3). Ms Ward will immediately take office and lead the new East Midlands Combined County Authority - a brand new organisation which will make decisions currently made in Westminster on local issues ranging from jobs to housing.
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Ms Ward will lead on deciding where and how money being given to the organisation by Government is spent, with the combined authority set to receive at least £38 million over the next 30 years. Below are how each of the six candidates did:
- Frank Adlington-Stringer, Green Party - 50,666
- Ben Bradley, Conservative - 129,332
- Alan Graves, Reform UK - 49,201
- Matt Relf, Independent - 23,359
- Helen Tamblyn-Saville, Liberal Democrats - 15,970
- Claire Ward, Labour - 181,040
