2028 English mayoral elections

2028 English mayoral elections
4 May 2028
14 out of 20 strategic authority mayors
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Party Labour Conservative Reform
Seats before 10
(9 up for election)		 2
(1 up for election)		 2
(0 up for election)
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Party Liberal Democrats Green
Seats before 0 0
     Labour incumbent
     Conservative incumbent
     Newly-created mayoralty
     Not up for election in 2028

Mayoral elections are scheduled to be held on 4 May 2028 to elect 14 of the 20 strategic authority mayors in England, four of them newly-established. They will be held at the same time as local council elections in England.

Background

The title "mayor" is an old one in the English local government system. Borough councils traditionally had mayors, indirectly elected from amongst council members. Where these still exist they are now ceremonial roles. Some local councils also have directly-elected mayors.[1]

Strategic authority mayors have been created over time since 2000. They are the executive of strategic authorities, a term applied retrospectively in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 to existing structures. They are sometimes known as "metro mayors", "regional mayors" or "devolved mayors", reflecting that the first wave of mayors covered metropolitan areas, some cover larger regions, and their role in implementing devolution in England.[2] The mayors sit on the Mayoral Council for England, and also on the Council of the Nations and Regions.

As of 2026, there are 14 strategic authority mayors in England. Two more strategic authority mayors will be first elected in 2027, and four more will be first elected in 2028, bringing the total number of strategic authority mayors up to 20 from 2028.

Fourteen out of the twenty mayors will be up for election for four-year terms in 2028. The other six are elected on different cycles, being elected in 2027 or 2029 instead.

There are additionally a further two strategic authorities which do not have mayors, known as "foundation strategic authorities".

Electoral system

The mayoral elections are expected to use the supplementary vote system, which was reintroduced with the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 and had previously been used until 2022.[3] Between 2022 and 2026, mayoral elections used the first past the post system, due to the Elections Act 2022.

In the supplementary vote system, voters express a first and a second preference of candidates.[4]

  • If a candidate receives over 50% of the first preference vote the candidate wins.
  • If no candidate receives an overall majority, i.e., over 50% of first preference votes, the top two candidates proceed to a second round and all other candidates are eliminated.
  • The first preference votes for the remaining two candidates stand in the final count.
  • Voters' ballots whose first and second preference candidates are eliminated are discarded.
  • Voters whose first preference candidates have been eliminated and whose second preference candidate is in the top two have their second preference votes added to the count.

This means that the winning candidate has the support of a majority of voters who expressed a preference among the top two.[5]

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in the mayoral strategic authority, aged 18 or over on 4 May 2028, are entitled to vote in the mayoral elections.

Mayors serve four-year terms, with the 14 mayors elected in 2028 serving until 2032. The other six strategic authorities elect mayors on a different four-year cycle, with four having been elected in 2025 and two being elected in 2027.

Summary

2028 election Incumbent mayor and party Last election Candidates
Labour Conservative Reform UK Liberal Democrats Green Others
East Midlands Claire Ward Labour Co-operative 40.3%
Greater Essex Newly-created position Adam Fox[6] Louise McKinlay[7] Peter Harris[8] James Allen[9] Natasha Osben[10] James Miller (Southend Confelicity Party)[11]
Greater Manchester Bev Craig Labour Co-operative 66.3%
Hampshire and the Solent Newly-created position Lorna Fielker[12] Donna Jones[13] Martin Tod[12] Anna Collar[14]
Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram Labour 68.0%
London Sadiq Khan Labour 43.8% Laila Cunningham[15]
Norfolk and Suffolk Newly-created position Carli Harper[16] Tim Passmore[17] David Bick[18] Kevin Keable[19] Caroline Topping[20] David Beavan (independent)[21]
North East Kim McGuinness Labour Co-operative 41.3%
South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard Labour Co-operative 50.9%
Sussex and Brighton Newly-created position Caroline Baxter[22] Katy Bourne[23] Paul Linehan[24] Ben Dempsey[25] Rachel Millward[26] Martin Webb (independent)[27]
Tees Valley Ben Houchen Conservative 53.6%
West Midlands Richard Parker Labour Co-operative 37.8%
West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin Labour Co-operative 50.4%
York and North Yorkshire David Skaith Labour Co-operative 35.1%

References

  1. ↑ Copus, Colin (2006). Leading the localities: Executive mayors in English local governance. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-7187-4.
  2. ↑ Briony, Allen; Routley, Sarah; Shaw, Harriet (22 May 2026). "Regional mayors". Institute for Government. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  3. ↑ "Government decision to restore Supplementary Vote system elections is a big win for voters". electoral-reform.org.uk. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  4. ↑ "How to Vote". London Elects. Archived from the original on 8 August 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  5. ↑ Elledge, Jonnk (2 May 2012). "London Elections: How The Voting System Works". The Londonist. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  6. ↑ O'Hanlon, Séamus (28 October 2025). "Greater Essex Mayoral Election: Labour selects Adam Fox as candidate". Daily Gazette. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  7. ↑ "How will having a mayor change Greater Essex?". BBC News. 31 July 2025. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
  8. ↑ "Former Dagenham business leader mirror to be Essex mayor". Barking and Dagenham Post. 4 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  9. ↑ "Essex Liberal Democrats select candidate for Mayor". Brentwood Liberal Democrats. 20 October 2025. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  10. ↑ Hensel, Natalie (30 October 2025). "Dr Natasha Osben announced as Essex mayor candidate". Daily Gazette. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  11. ↑ "James Miller will be standing as Mayor of Essex for the Confelicity Party in 2026, despite opposing the devolution and local government reorganisation plans". Southend Confelicity Party. 2 April 2025. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  12. 1 2 "Martin Tod, Winchester city council leader, to stand for regional mayor". BBC News. 2025-09-11. Retrieved 2025-09-11.
  13. ↑ "Donna Jones named as Conservative party candidate for mayor of Hampshire". The News. 2025-08-03. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  14. ↑ "Anna Collar Announced as Green Party Mayoral Candidate for Hampshire and Solent". Facebook. 1 October 2025.
  15. ↑ Penna, Dominic; Holl-Allen, Genevieve; Martin, Daniel (7 January 2026). "Farage unveils London mayoral candidate to take on Khan". The Daily Telegraph.
  16. ↑ "Who wants to become the first Mayor of Suffolk and Norfolk?". BBC News. 24 September 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  17. ↑ "Conservative candidate for Norfolk and Suffolk Mayor is named". Eastern Daily Press. 17 August 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  18. ↑ "Reform UK names its Norfolk and Suffolk mayor candidate". Eastern Daily Press. 1 December 2025. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  19. ↑ Grimmer, Dan (4 November 2025). "Lib Dems announce Norfolk and Suffolk mayoral candidate". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  20. ↑ "Council leader announced as Green Party mayoral candidate". East Anglian Daily Times. 12 September 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  21. ↑ Santos, Joao (7 November 2025). "Expelled Lib Dem in bid to become Norfolk and Suffolk mayor". Watton and Swaffham Times. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  22. ↑ "Labour announces candidates for mayoral contests in Sussex and Hampshire". ITV News. 10 November 2025. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  23. ↑ "Conservatives select candidate to be first mayor of Sussex". Brighton and Hove News. 31 July 2025. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  24. ↑ Linehan, Paul. "About Paul | Reform 4 Sussex". www.reform4sussex.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
  25. ↑ "New Lib Dem Candidate for Mayor of Sussex: 'We will win with unity, not division'". Lewes Liberal Democrats. 13 September 2025. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  26. ↑ "'This is our moment' - South East Green Party members". BBC News. 25 October 2025. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  27. ↑ "Who are the Prospective 2026 Sussex Mayoral Candidates?". Sussex Express. 15 September 2025. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
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