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.
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One of those to have already declared their support for Councillor Bradley is Bassetlaw's Brendan Clarke-Smith, who said his colleague would make an "outstanding" mayor. In his article for The Telegraph, Councillor Bradley says former Prime Minister Boris Johnson "captured the mood" of the East Midlands with his levelling up agenda.
With the next general election fast approaching, Councillor Bradley says one way for his Government to show it is delivering on levelling up would be to "fast-track" the process of enshrining the new East Midlands authority into law. The election for East Midlands Mayor is currently slated for next May, but this may be pushed back if legislation to create the new authority is not passed in time.
As well as urging the Government not to delay on this legislation, Councillor Bradley says in his Telegraph article that devolution in England must not be defined by "left-leaning politicians." In particular, he says he would be against the controversial ULEZ travel zones that have been introduced by leaders including London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
In a statement on social media confirming his Conservative Party candidacy, Councillor Bradley added: "This is a huge opportunity for our region to draw in billions of additional investment, create new employment and training opportunities for local people, and improve infrastructure across the whole of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Local leaders have been trying to make this happen for a decade, without success.
"I've been the one to finally secure this funding for the East Midlands, and to get it done. I've delivered billions of future investment for our communities, and I can deliver again as Mayor."
The Conservative Party was originally due to have its candidate in place by September, but Councillor Bradley previously said he would be "frustrated" if the Tories didn't follow Labour's timeline. Labour say they will have a candidate picked by August.
Those running to be Labour's candidate include Chair of the Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust Claire Ward, former Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping, former BBC East Midlands Political Editor John Hess and Derbyshire politician Suqie Banwait. The Liberal Democrats say they will put a candidate up for the mayoral role, whilst the Green Party is still considering whether to do so or not.
