Mansfield MP Ben Bradley has confirmed he wants to be the first ever East Midlands Mayor ahead of an election for the brand new role next year. Councillor Bradley, who also serves as the Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, was one of four leaders to originally sign the deal which will hand £1.14 billion to Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire over the next 30 years.
This money will be spent by a brand new authority covering both counties, headed up by a directly-elected mayor. The Labour Party is already well underway with the selection process for its mayoral candidate.
Councillor Bradley has now become the first in the Conservative Party to declare that he wants to be its East Midlands Mayor candidate. He announced the move in an online article for The Telegraph, in which he claimed that he had already received the backing of 14 MPs in the East Midlands.
