News / Bristol
Tim Bowles becomes West of England metro mayor
A former local Conservative party councillor in South Gloucestershire has become the West of England’s first metro mayor.
Tim Bowles was declared the winner shortly before 6am on Friday morning, beating Labour’s Lesley Mansell into second place after second preference votes were counted.
Adding together the first and second preference votes, Bowles received 70,300 and Mansell received 65,923.
is needed now More than ever
Tim Bowles and defeated Labour candidate Lesley Mansell
“From a personal perspective, I am honoured to be elected as the first West of England regional mayor,” said Bowles in his acceptance speech at the M Shed.
“It truly is an honour and I look forward to working on behalf of everybody in the region to make the improvements that we have all recognised throughout all of the campaign if we need to see the real economic growth and to make the real differences for everybody throughout the region.”
The Winterbourne businessman will preside over a £1bn budget, with powers over transport, housing, planning and education for the Greater Bristol region, incorporating Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils.
The candidates await the result in the M Shed
In Bristol. Mansell convincingly won the first preference votes:
Lesley Mansell, Labour – 29,676
Stephen Williams, Liberal Democrat – 20,675
Tim Bowles, Conservative – 18,146
John Savage, independent – 14,467
Darren Hall, Green – 13,857
Aaron Foot, UKIP – 3,354
The picture was different, however, in the first preference results from across the region, in which Bowles was top, and Lib Dem Stephen Williams dropped from second to third.
Tim Bowles, Conservative – 53,796
Lesley Mansell, Labour – 43,627
Stephen Williams, Liberal Democrat – 39,794
John Savage, independent – 29,500
Darren Hall, Green Party – 22,054
Aaron Foot, UKIP – 8,182
Turnout was 29.62 per cent (30.88 per cent in Bristol), with 198,810 ballots cast.
It was a disappointing night for the Green Party, with independent candidate John Savage beating the Greens’ Darren Hall.
The Greens are concentrating their national resources on the battle for Bristol West, with former MP Williams revealing that he has not yet ruled out running in next month’s General Election to try to regain his former Westminster seat which he lost to Labour in 2015.
Photos by Jon Craig
Read more: ‘How many mayors do we need?’
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