2017 Liverpool City Region mayoral election


The inaugural Liverpool City Region mayoral election was held on 4 May 2017 to elect the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and won by Steve Rotheram. Subsequent elections will be held in May 2020 and then every four years after that. The metro mayor will have control over the whole Liverpool City Region combined authority area which consists of the following local authorities:
The mayor will work with existing city and borough leaders to take forward the mayor's strategic plan. The metro mayor will have a budget of £900 million over 30 years with powers on education & skills, planning and housing, transport, health and social care.

Background

were introduced in England outside Greater London by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 to cover areas larger than the existing local authorities but smaller than the regions. Combined authorities are created voluntarily and allow a group of local authorities to pool appropriate responsibility and receive certain delegated functions from central government in order to deliver transport and economic policy more effectively over a wider area. There are currently six such authorities, with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority established on 1 April 2011, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and three others established in April 2014, and a sixth in April 2016. If only two candidates stand, then the election is conducted under the first past the post voting system, where the candidate with the most votes is elected. If there are three or more candidates, as in 2017, the outcome will be determined by the supplementary vote system. Voters make both a first and second choice, with any candidate securing more than half of the first-preference vote being elected. If no candidate reaches this threshold, then all candidates except those in first and second place are eliminated. Second-preference votes from these candidates are transferred over, and whoever has the most votes is elected.

Candidates

;Conservative Party
Conservative candidate Tony Caldeira is a businessman and was candidate for Mayor of Liverpool in 2012 and 2016.
Caldeira's key policies were to:
;Get The Coppers Off The Jury
Candidate Paul Breen previously ran as an Independent in the 2007 Liverpool City Council elections for Norris Green. No manifesto has been published with Breen stating that the party's name speaks for itself.
;Green Party of England and Wales
Tom Crone, Leader of the Green Group on Liverpool City Council and 2016 Liverpool mayoral candidate winning 11% of the vote.
Crone's key policies were to:
;Labour Party
Labour candidate Steve Rotheram had been MP for Liverpool Walton since 2010, Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition since 2015, and former Lord Mayor of Liverpool.
Rotheram's key policies are to:
;Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrat candidate Councillor Carl Cashman is leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Knowsley Council having been elected in 2016. At 25 years old he is the youngest of the candidates.
Cashman's key policies were to:
;Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
TUSC candidate Roger Bannister is a member the UNISON public services union, is secretary of a local UNISON Branch and a member of UNISON’s National Executive Council. He previous ran for mayor of Liverpool in the 2016 Liverpool mayoral elections receiving 5% of the votes.
Bannister's key policies were to:
;UK Independence Party
UKIP candidate Paula Walters is a civil servant and chairwoman of UKIP Wirral. With no previous business experience she has previously campaigned against bridge and tunnel tolls.
Walters' key policies were to:
;Women's Equality Party
The Women's Equality Party candidate Tabitha Morton is Head of Integration at lock manufacturer Yale.
Morton's key policies were to:

Overall election result

Results by local authority

Halton

Knowsley

Liverpool

Sefton

St Helens

Wirral