AFTER months of campaigning, the West of England has elected its first mayor.

South Gloucestershire councillor Tim Bowles claimed victory in the early hours of this morning, in a higher than expected turnout, with a margin of 4,377 over Labour’s Lesley Mansell.

As the new “Metro Mayor”, Mr Bowles, who lives in Winterbourne, will lead the newly-formed West of England Combined Authority (WECA), which consists of South Gloucestershire, Bristol and Bath and North East Somerset.

The partnership between the three authorities is the product of a £1billion devolution deal which will see the new mayor imbued with powers from central government over the likes of transport, housing and jobs.

Speaking to the Gazette, Tim Bowles, our new mayor said he was "genuinely humbled" to have been selected for the role.

"It is an honour to be elected as the first West of England regional mayor," he said. "I am really looking forward to the job."

"It’s really important we recognise the individuality of the region, the diversity of the region and that we address the respective challenges they have.

"There is not just one fix for everything, we have got to make sure we are working with Matthew (Riddle) as leader of South Gloucestershire, with Tim (Warren) from BANES and Marvin here in Bristol to make sure we are getting the long term strategic plans for all of us and that we are addressing each of the challenges in each of the regions."

Mr Bowles and Ms Mansell were joined in the race by Lib Dem former MP Stephen Williams, UKIP farmer Aaron Foot, Independent businessman John Savage and Green candidate Darren Hall.

Votes from the four Bristol wards were the first to trickle in during the early hours of the morning with Ms Mansell leading Mr Williams in the first preferences by a difference of 9,001 votes.

But following landslide wins in South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset, Mr Bowles was propelled into the lead with 53,796 votes, a lead over Ms Mansell by more than 10,000.

Gazette Series:

With no candidate able to take the 50 per cent majority needed to win, the race went to the second stage, with Mr Bowles and Ms Mansell having the second preference votes from the other candidates added to the existing totals.

Gazette Series:

Less than three-in-ten people chose to use their vote, with 199,519 people across the region voting - a 29.72 per cent turnout.

South Gloucestershire had a noticeably lower number of voters take part than the rest of the region with only 27.06 per cent of the electorate using their vote – which equates to 56,697 ballots being cast.

While low compared to what is expected on June 8 for the general election, the turnout was noticeable higher than last year’s Police and Crime Commissioner Election, where just over 20 per cent of South Gloucestershire took part.

West of England Mayoral Election Results

Stage One - First Preference Votes (Overall)

  1. 53,796 - Tim Bowles (Conservative)
  2. 43,627 - Lesley Mansell (Labour)
  3. 39,794 - Stephen Williams (Liberal Democrat)
  4. 29,500 - John Savage (Independent)
  5. 22,054 - Darren Hall (Green)
  6. 8,182   - Aaron Foot (UKIP)


Stage Two - Second Preference Votes (Overall)

  1. 16,504 - Tim Bowles (Conservative)
  2. 22,296 - Lesley Mansell (Labour)

Final results - First and Second Preference Votes Combined

  1. 70,300 - Tim Bowles (Conservative)
  2. 65,923 - Lesley Mansell (Labour)