What is the West Midlands Mayoral Election?
What is the role of the Mayor?
The mayor is the chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority. They are elected to exercise powers and functions devolved from the UK Government.
Transport
Economic Growth
Housing
Skills & Employment
Economic Growth
Transport
Skills & Employment
Housing
The role means that they makes important decisions on topics such as economic growth, transport, housing, and skills and employment; in the areas of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
Why is voting in this election important?
This election can help you have your say in the future development of this region. The local council has power over issues that will directly affect you such as transport, business funding and employment. This is a great opportunity to make sure you’ve been involved in choosing the best candidate to make these decisions, voting also helps someone who has similar views to you be elected to help bring about a positive change to this region. This is a fantastic way to have your say.
To vote in the election you must:
- be registered to vote
- be 18 or over on the day of the election (‘polling day’) (16 or over in Scotland)
- be a British, Irish, Commonwealth or EU citizen
- be registered at an address in the area you want to vote in
- not be legally excluded from voting
How does the election work?
Mayors are elected using a system called the supplementary vote. Voters pick their first and second choice for mayor. When the votes are counted if a candidate has over 50% of the vote then they win, however if neither candidate has a majority of votes, the secondary votes are counted for the top two candidates. This ensures that the winner of the election has a majority.
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