Claire Ward (Labour and Cooperative Party) has been elected as the first East Midlands Combined County Authority Mayor with 181,040 total votes.
The mayor will lead the new East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA), which will have access to more than £4 billion of new investment in the region for skills, transport, housing and regeneration and net zero – with further investment likely to follow.
The vote has been hailed as an “historic moment” in the region’s future which can turn round decades of under-investment.
It also means decisions about key issues affecting the future of people, places and businesses across the East Midlands will now be taken here in the region rather than down in Westminster.
The £4 billion investment has been made possible by a landmark devolution deal which means government has handed back some of its powers to an East Midlands mayor and combined county authority.
The East Midlands Chamber reacted warmly to the appointment, with Chief Executive Scott Knowles saying: “I’d like to extend my congratulations to Claire Ward as she takes on this new role of Combined County Authority mayor. I look forward to sharing insight with Claire into the needs of businesses in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire as this new chapter for the two counties unfolds.
“I wish Claire every success as Combined County Authority mayor and at East Midlands Chamber we stand ready to work with Claire in highlighting the key issues facing businesses in the East Midlands. While there is plenty of growth potential in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, the skills gap and the need for reform in areas like transport are ever present, as are the prohibitive costs of doing business.”
Nikki Paterson, CBI Regional Director for the Midlands, said: “Congratulations to Claire Ward and Richard Parker on their election as East and West Midlands Mayors respectively. After a difficult few years for people and businesses across the Midlands, there’s really no time to waste in getting the local economy firing once again.
“Delivering jobs, opportunity and prosperity has to be at the very top of the new mayors’ ‘to do’ lists. That means pressing ahead with ambitious plans to modernise the local economy and bring high growth sectors to the area.
“Advancing plans to build a Gigafactory at the Coventry Airport site and continuing to support high growth potential sectors, like tech and advanced manufacturing, would be two significant steps to achieving that goal.
“With East Midlands Hydrogen also representing the UK’s largest inland hydrogen cluster, we need to see greater collaboration between the mayors’ office and industry leaders to ensure we can fully capitalise on this incredible driver of growth.”
D2N2 LEP Chair, Elizabeth Fagan, said: “I warmly congratulate Claire on her successful election as our new East Midlands Mayor. I’m truly confident that Claire, our new mayor, will champion the voice of our hard-working, successful businesses, from micro, to SMEs, to global corporates, and ensure a strong economic and inward investment strategy for low carbon economic growth, skills, transport and housing. Our time is now.”
