Labour party candidate crowned the first ever East Midlands Mayor after election wants to improve roads, support high streets and build more homes

Labour’s Claire Ward clinched the seat in the inaugural EMCCA Mayoral Election after defeating candidates including Conservative Ben Bradley, Liberal Democrat Helen Louise Tamblyn-Saville, Independent Matt Relf, Green Party member Frank Adlington-Stringer and Reform UK’s Alan Graves.

The victory was announced in Derby at 4.35pm, on May 3, after the May 2 election and after counts were pulled in on May 3, at Derby Arena, for the Derby-based voters, and at Nottingham Tennis Centre, for the Nottingham-based voters and from other counts elsewhere across the region.

After an overall voter turnout of 27.6per cent, Claire Ward secured victory but the overall total number of votes for each candidate is yet to be announced in Derby.

For the Derby count alone, Claire Ward secured a total 19,595 votes while Conservative Ben Bradley got 9,932 , Reform UK’s Alan Graves got 7,974, Green Party member Frank Adlington-Stringer got 4,566, Liberal Democrat Helen Louise Tamblyn-Saville got 1,930, and Independent Matt Relf got 1,669.

Triumphant Labour’s Claire Ward, of Newark and Sherwood, is chairperson of Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust which runs Sutton’s King’s Mill, Mansfield Community and Newark hospitals and she is also a former Labour Party MP for Watford.

She has stated that she wants to get a grip on roads and support high streets with new money and build homes while tackling homelessness and boosting tourism.

Among Mrs Ward’s pledges in her campaign, according to the Labour List website, she also said she wants to establish a green growth fund to create new green jobs.

The inaugural EMCCA Election was part of Local Elections across England and Wales involving the election of councillors at 107 local authorities, 11 regional mayors, and 37 Police and Crime Commissioners as well as a Westminster By-election, in Blackpool South, during May 2.

EMCCA, which was only formed in February, has brought together representatives from four agreed local authorities Derbyshire County Council, Derby City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottingham City Council after its launch this year but Leicester City and Leicestershire County councils declined to join the authority.

The EMCCA devolution deal will reportedly guarantee a funding stream of £1.14bn spread over a 30-years with devolved powers around transport, housing, skills and adult education, economic development and net zero.

Councils across the East Midlands, including those in Derbyshire are not being scrapped or merged under the EMCCA devolution deal and they will still oversee many public services, but the new East Midlands Combined County Authority will deal with broader issues like transport, regeneration and employment.

Conservative Ben Bradley, of Newark and Sherwood, in Nottinghamshire, is currently the Conservative Mansfield MP and Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council had previously to address road improvements, to improve public transport and to bring in major new investment to create jobs and regeneration if he had been elected.

Liberal Democrat Ms Tamblyn-Saville, of Bassetlaw, in north Nottinghamshire, is described on the Bassetlaw Liberal Democrats’ website as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Bassetlaw and Prospective Parliamentary Candidate.

Had she had been elected, she had said the Liberal Democrats had hoped to have been able to work collaboratively with councils and communities to find solutions, rather than what she had called grandstanding from the top, to improve transport and housing.

Ashfield Independent Matt Relf, of Sutton in Ashfield, in Nottinghamshire, is currently an Ashfield District councillor and he had said that devolution offers a massive opportunity for real change with more funding and powers to decide things locally to transform transport, fix the roads, give businesses support and investment with training opportunities for all.

Green Party member Frank Adlington-Stringer, of Wingerworth, Chesterfield, who is a NE Derbyshire District Councillor had hoped to be able to address many environmental concerns.

Reform UK’s Alan Graves, of South Derbyshire, who is a Derby City Councillor and Derby’s Mayor., had not disguised his scepticism over the establishment of EMCCA after stating that he regards it as a waste of money.

Mr Graves said he had stood as a mayoral candidate because he had wanted to convince the Government to remove the post to save millions of pounds that he feels needs spending on better things.

The first EMCCA Mayor, Mrs Ward, was elected by residents in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Derby and Nottingham, and she will now be able to focus on transport, net-zero targets and housing, improving lives, and championing major infrastructure projects and the new role should afford her closer links to Westminster so she will be able to lobby Government.

It is hoped she will also give the region more influence and create a contact for businesses and other organisations and make a strong case to the Government for more investment in the East Midlands.

EMCCA’s longer term aspirations include seeking more powers from Westminster and placing more decisions at local level.

It was confirmed that in Derby 174 people had been working on the floor at Derby Arena during the day of the EMCCA Mayoral count on May 3, with 281 polling staff working in Derby during the election on May 2, and Derby had operated 89 polling stations.

The Derby EMCCA Election turnout was recorded at 25.5 per cent and the Nottingham Election turnout was recorded at 24.93 per cent.

An overall EMCCA Mayoral election turnout was recorded at 27.6per cent and the lowest voter turnout was recorded in Bolsover with the highest in Rushcliffe.

The Local Elections have been billed as a barometer on wider political allegiance across England and Wales after the Conservative Government’s popularity has been falling in national polls after it has been struggling on key issues like the economy, migration, and the NHS.

By the afternoon of May 3, every political party appeared to have made some sort of gains winning council seats across England and Wales apart from the Conservatives who were looking at growing losses.

The Conservatives had lost at least 283 council seats and Labour had won at least 116 council seats as figures were still being updated.

During this time, the Liberal Democrats had won at least 43 council seats, the Independents 75, and the Green Party had won 36 council seats.

EMCCA Mayoral voting turnouts:

Amber Valley 29per cent; Ashfield 23.7per cent; Bassetlaw 24.7per cent; Bolsover 22.3per cent; Broxtowe 35per cent; Chesterfield 24.8per cent; Derby City 25.4per cent; Derbyshire Dales 33.3per cent; Erewash 27.6per cent; Gedling 30.5per cent; High Peak 30.1per cent; Mansfield 25.1per cent; Newark and Sherwood 28.5per cent; North East Derbyshire 27.9per cent; Nottingham City 24.9per cent; Rushcliffe 37.7per cent; And South Derbyshire 25per cent.

The overall turnout was 27.6per cent.