LOCAL GOVERNMENT English city and regional mayors By Andrew Stevens, City Mayors Fellow*  ON THIS PAGE: Local government in England | Elected city mayors in England | Elected regional mayors in England ON OTHER PAGES: Local government in the UK | London Boroughs | City of London | Mayors, parties, politics | Mayoral elections 2025 | North East Mayor fights child poverty | Local government in England May 2026: In London and several major metropolitan regions of England, mayors are directly elected and exercise strategic powers over transport, economic development, housing, and regional governance. At the same time, most local councils in England are led by a Council Leader elected by fellow councillors. Since 2002, some councils have also been headed by directly elected local authority mayors chosen by local voters. Most of these local authority mayors are responsible for the full range of council services, although two district council mayors exercise more limited responsibilities, mainly in planning, housing and environmental functions. In strategic authorities across London and several metropolitan regions, mayors oversee wider regional responsibilities including transport, economic development, housing, public safety, skills and spatial planning. All of England’s directly elected mayors were previously elected to four-year terms using the Supplementary Vote system, a preferential voting system similar to instant runoff voting. Since 2023, these elections have instead used the First Past the Post system. There are no directly elected mayors in Scotland, Wales or Northern Irelan England has 296 principal local authorities consisting of London boroughs, metropolitan boroughs, unitary authorities and non-metropolitan district councils. The all-purpose single-tier authorities comprise 32 London boroughs, including the City of London Corporation, 36 metropolitan boroughs, and 63 unitary authorities. Alongside these are 164 non-metropolitan district councils operating beneath 21 county councils in the remaining two-tier areas of England. Some non-metropolitan districts are known as borough or city councils, while some London boroughs, metropolitan boroughs and unitary authorities also use the title of city council. Although these authorities have similar functions at single-tier level, their titles reflect different phases of local government reorganisation between 1965 and 2023. Non-metropolitan districts mainly exercise responsibilities for planning, housing and environmental services, while upper-tier county councils retain functions such as education and social care. The two-tier system, which now covers less than one-third of England’s population, is currently under review with the stated aim of replacing it with a common single-tier structure across England. Of England’s 296 principal councils, all but 13 are currently headed by a Council Leader elected from among councillors. Councils are elected on four-year cycles, although the pattern of elections differs between authorities. Some councils elect all councillors simultaneously, while others elect by halves or by thirds. London boroughs and most metropolitan boroughs use a fixed all-out electoral cycle. The directly elected Mayor of London, first introduced in 2000, is included among England’s elected mayors but occupies a distinct constitutional position. The Greater London Authority is a strategic regional authority rather than a local council and does not directly provide most local government services. Since 2011, combined authorities consisting of groups of constituent local councils have gradually been established across several metropolitan regions of England. Under the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016, directly elected mayors for combined authorities were introduced from 2017 onwards in regions including Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, West Midlands, West of England, Tees Valley and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Additional mayoral authorities were subsequently established in the Sheffield City Region, the North East and West Yorkshire. Elections were first held in 2024 for the mayoralties covering York and North Yorkshire and a reconstituted North East authority. New strategic authorities covering Cheshire, Cumbria and the Sussex and Brighton area were established in 2026 with inaugural mayoral elections scheduled for 2027 and 2028. The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 enabled the creation of Combined County Authorities, extending the mayoral model beyond metropolitan regions. The first such authority elected a mayor in the East Midlands in 2024, followed by Greater Lincolnshire in 2025. Following the English Devolution Act 2026, combined authorities and combined county authorities are now collectively designated as Strategic Authorities. Their mayors, together with the Mayor of London, form part of the UK Government’s Mayoral Council for England and also participate in the Council of the Nations and Regions alongside the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Under the Local Government Act 2000, local councils in England were permitted to introduce directly elected local authority mayors either following a local referendum or by council resolution. The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 later allowed councils to adopt the mayoral system without a referendum, although only Leicester and Liverpool did so. Several authorities subsequently abolished their directly elected mayoralties following local referendums. There have been four by-elections for local authority mayoral offices since their introduction in 2002. These occurred in North Tyneside in 2003, Bedford in 2009, Tower Hamlets in 2015 and Hackney in 2023 following resignation, death in office or electoral disqualification. Debate has periodically emerged over the overlap between combined authority mayors and directly elected local authority mayors within the same metropolitan areas, particularly in Bristol and Liverpool. Nevertheless, referendums on abolition have in several cases resulted in the retention of local authority mayoralties. The former Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government legislated for referendums in 2012 on the introduction of directly elected mayors in England’s ten largest cities. Only Bristol voted in favour, although a later referendum in 2022 supported abolition of the office. The same government also introduced directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners in 2012 to replace police authorities. In London, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and York and North Yorkshire these responsibilities are instead exercised by elected mayors. The present government has indicated that Police and Crime Commissioner functions are expected to be integrated into wider strategic authority arrangements before the next scheduled elections in 2028. In its 2024 English Devolution White Paper, the government proposed phasing out directly elected local authority mayors in order to reduce confusion between local and strategic mayoral offices and to reinforce the leader and cabinet model used by most councils. Under the English Devolution Act 2026, councils may no longer introduce directly elected local authority mayors. The remaining 13 legacy mayoralties may continue unless their councils later choose to return to the leader and cabinet system. Local authorities where decisions were taken to abolish the posts of directly elected mayors
One factor in several of these cases included the overlap between metro mayors and elected mayors of their constituent local authorities (Bristol, Liverpool). Referendums on elected mayoralties have however seen the system retained in several authorities in polls held under the Local Government Act 2000 (which requires a referendum to be held on abolition to reverse the mandate if the post was originally introduced following a local referendum). Local authorities where decisions were taken
The former Conservative-led coalition government legislated for referendums to be held in May 2012 on the introduction of elected mayor posts in England’s 10 largest cities, with only Bristol assenting to the proposal (a city referendum which backed abolishing the office was later held in May 2022). It also introduced directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners to replace England’s police authorities (previously centrally-appointed boards) in November 2012. In London, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and York/North Yorkshire this is a mayoral function, however. In its 2024 English Devolution White Paper, the new government suggested it was minded to phase out local authority directly elected mayors in England to avoid confusion with the combined authority mayors and instead revitalise local leadership in a new single-tier system through the leader and cabinet model already adopted by most councils. In June 2025, it confirmed this will be legislated for in due course. Elected city mayors in England Parties: Labour – centre-left; Liberal Democrats – centrist; Conservative – centre-right; Green - green, leftist Aspire - populist
Source: House of Commons Library research Strategic authority mayors in England Parties: Labour – centre-left; Conservative – centre-right; Reform UK - right
Strategic authority mayors allowances listed at 2023/24 rates (except for those formed after) Sources: Institute for Government, local media *The research was original carried out in 2021 and updated in May 2024 and again in May 2026. All salary data shown has been cross-referenced across a range of sources and is to the best of our knowledge accurate in May 2024. FULL SURVEY © Copyright: All content of the City Mayors and World Mayor websites are protected by worldwide copyright. Please contact the editor if you wish to use any material from the City Mayors, World Mayor or Women Mayors websites. Follow @City_Mayors |
