Residents given the chance to vote for the first-ever East Midlands Mayor

People are being given the chance to have a say in who will be in charge of a giant £4 billion investment pot, by voting for the first-ever Mayor of East Midlands. 

Residents across the East Midlands covering Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham, and Nottinghamshire, will go to the polls on Thursday May 2, 2024. 

The £4 billion investment has been made possible after the government agreed to give up some of its powers and transfer them to the mayor and combined county authority through a landmark devolution deal agreed in 2022.

Derby City Council, Derbyshire County Council, Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council each approved plans to create the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA).

The £4 billion investment in the future of the East Midlands will be guided by a public vote.

What the Combined County Authority does, will be led by a mayor – and the public gets to decide who that mayor is.

The move means that the East Midlands will be on an equal footing with areas like the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire, where elected mayors have secured similar large-scale investment pots.

An elected mayor will give the East Midlands a voice at the national table, able to make the case for much greater investment from both government and private sector.

The East Midlands deal is one of the biggest so far.

The team setting up the combined county authority say the mayor will have the powers and resources to begin a long-term process of growing the region’s economy by investing in skills that lead to better jobs, improved transport links, housing and an economy equipped to deal with net zero.

Mark Rogers, interim Chief Executive of (EMCCA) said: “This is a big deal in every sense. 

“It’s on a scale that the East Midlands hasn’t seen before, and gives it the powers and resources it needs to turn round under-investment, tackle challenges and open up massive new opportunities for people and places.

“This is all about bringing power back to the East Midlands, and the most significant part of that process is the vote – the people will decide who’ll lead this transformation.”

The campaign to encourage voting is based on the shift of powers from Westminster to the East Midlands.

It promotes the powers the mayor will have, to make big decisions about the future of the East Midlands ‘here’ in the region rather than ‘there’ in London.

Leaders and deputy leaders from each authority will sit on the combined county authority, but they’ll also be advised by specialists from different parts of the community.

This includes a business advisory board that will be developed by the interim representative for business, David Williams, who chairs the law firm Geldards, which has a major office presence in both Derby and Nottingham. 

He said: “This is going to make a huge difference to the East Midlands and there’s a clear emphasis on investing in projects and places that are going to support a long-term improvement to people’s lives.

“This is why it’s so important that everyone out there has their say. 

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest billions of pounds in people’s futures - so our people need to decide who they want to make the key decisions.”

The mayor will lead a combined county authority that is being given powers currently held by Westminster to invest over the long-term in priorities like transport, skills, housing regeneration, and net zero. 

It won’t duplicate what local councils do.

The EMCCA say they are funded by government and will not take money away from existing council budgets.

For more information about EMCCA visit their website by clicking here.