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 WORLD MAYOR 2025: The 2025 World Mayor Prize is dedicated to 'Mayors fighting Poverty'. We are seeking mayors from large cities, towns and villages who have put in place measures in support of the least well-off in their communities. Please nominate your candidate for the World Mayor Prize and Awards. IN DETAIL Local government in England May 2025: In London and several regional areas, England’s cities are mostly led by elected Mayors. At the same time, all but 13 of the 296 local councils in England are run by a Council Leader elected by their fellow councillors. Since 2002, many have been led by mayors elected directly by local voters. Most of the local authority-elected mayors in England have responsibility for all local services, with two district council mayors responsible for only environment, planning and housing. In London and several metropolitan area Combined Authorities, the mayor is responsible for transport, economic development, skills and spatial planning, and other fields as devolved. All of England’s elected mayors were previously elected for four-year terms by the instant run-off Supplementary Vote, from 2023 this has been by a simple majority (‘First Past the Post’). There are no elected mayors in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. There are 296 municipal units in England, consisting of all-purpose single-tier London Boroughs (32, as well as the City of London Corporation), metropolitan boroughs (36) and unitary authorities (63), and 164 non-metropolitan districts existing below 21 upper-tier county councils. In some cases, non-metropolitan districts can be known as borough or city councils, while some London boroughs, metropolitan boroughs and unitary councils can also be known as ‘city’ councils. The single-tier councils all have the same responsibilities, but their designation reflects particular waves of reorganisation: London Boroughs (1965), metropolitan boroughs (1986) and unitary authorities (1995-1998, 2009 and 2019-23). Non-metropolitan districts perform mainly environmental, planning and housing functions in contrast to the all-purpose authorities that also provide education and social services. The two-tier system, which serves only 29 per cent of the population of England, is currently under review with the stated aim to replace it across all of England with a common single-tier system. In the majority of these 296 councils, all but 13 are currently headed by a Council Leader elected from among the council (previously annually, since 2010 for four-year terms). All councils are elected on four-year cycles but the type of elections (all out, half of seats or third of seats) is determined by each council, leading to a variety of election types across England (except in London and most Metropolitan Boroughs, which work on a single fixed all-out cycle). The directly elected Mayor of London (since 2000) is included among England’s elected mayors, but as the Greater London Authority (GLA) is a strategic regional body that does not provide local authority services, the London mayor is considered separately for most other purposes. Since 2011, Combined Authorities (CAs) consisting of leaders of constituent local authorities have been introduced to mostly metropolitan areas of England. Among their core responsibilities are transport, economic development, skills, housing investment and spatial planning, with other fields devolved as agreed with the central government (e.g. social care, criminal justice). Under the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016, ‘Metro Mayors’ were elected for the first time in 2017 to lead several of these Combined Authorities, in areas covering Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Manchester, as well as Cambridge/Peterborough and Teesside. In subsequent years new authorities were created for areas in South Yorkshire (2018), Newcastle (2019) and West Yorkshire (2021). In May 2024 elections were held for the first time for mayoral combined authorities in York/North Yorkshire and an expanded North East, followed by Hull and East Yorkshire in 2025. The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 allows for the creation of Combined County Authorities, with the first of these elected to in the East Midlands in 2024, followed by Greater Lincolnshire in 2025. The Act also currently allows both classes of combined authority to permit a change of name for their head from Mayor to an alternative such as Governor, Leader or Commissioner. Combined authority mayors and the London Mayor are now members of the UK Government’s new Mayoral Council for England and the Council of the Nations and Regions (alongside the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). As a result of the Local Government Act 2000, any local council in England can hold a referendum on the introduction of a directly elected mayor, either by citizen petition or council decision. Since the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, local councils have also been allowed to introduce the system without a referendum, so far only two, Leicester and Liverpool, have done so. Several councils have abolished their elected mayoralties since 2009. There have been four local by-elections for elected mayor posts since their England-wide introduction in 2002: North Tyneside in 2003 (Chris Morgan’s resignation over child sex images charges), Bedford in 2009 (Frank Branston’s death in office), Tower Hamlets in 2015 (Lutfur Rahman removal from office by election court) and Hackney in 2023 (Philip Glanville resignation due to association with child sex offender). 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 to retain the posts of directly elected mayors
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. There are no directly elected mayors in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. The devolved governments of Scotland and Northern Ireland have chosen not to introduce the system, while in Wales only one local referendum on introducing an elected mayor has been held to date. In its 2024 English Devolution White Paper, the new government suggested it is minded to phase out local authority directly elected mayors in England so as 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. Elected city mayors in England Parties: Labour – centre-left; Liberal Democrats – centrist; Conservative – centre-right; Aspire - populist
Local authority mayors allowances listed as 2022/23 rates in the above table Elected regional (metro) mayors in England Parties: Labour – centre-left; Liberal Democrats – centrist; Conservative – centre-right;
Metro mayors allowances listed as 2023/24 rates in the above table Rates shown in grey italics are for 2024/25 Sources: Institute for Government, local media *The research was original carried out in 2021 and updated in May 2024 and again in May 2025. 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 |
