Mayoral elections 2024: What the results could mean for children and young people’s services
Fiona Simpson and Amrit Virdi
Friday, May 3, 2024
Members of the public have taken to the polls in devolved areas and in the capital to vote for elected mayors, signaling a big win for Labour which took all but one of 10 mayoral seats in England.
Elected mayors hold four-year terms are responsible for areas including housing, transport and skills opportunities for young people.
Key offers for children and young people pledged in the winners' campaign manifestos include a focus on reducing transport costs, working with councils and the government to increase access to childcare and boosting job opportunities and apprenticeships.
Increasing support for young people at risk of involvement in crime through boosting youth worker numbers also appears high on the agenda.
CYP Now examines these key pledges by area:
Tees Valley
Conservative candidate Ben Houchen topped the polls to gain a third term as Tees Valley mayor, with commentators speculating that the win was based on votes for Houchen rather than votes for his party.
Ahead of the election, Houchen pledged to offer:
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A £1 bus travel cap for under 21s.
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Free swimming for children under 11 across Teeside, Darlington and Hartlepool.
York and North Yorkshire
In a blow to the Prime Minister, Labour candidate David Skaith took the new mayoralty covering areas including Rishi Sunak’s Richmond constituency.
Skaith has pledged to:
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Deliver a cost-of-living recovery plan.
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Tackle crime and antisocial behaviour.
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Connect our communities with a new transport system with affordable fares, new bus routes.
North East
Labour’s Kim McGuinness has stormed to victory in the North East's first mayoral election.
McGuinness was elected as Northumbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner in a by-election in 2019, and was re-elected in 2021. She also served as a member of Newcastle City Council and previously worked in the finance and charity sector.
McGuinness has pledged to:
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Expand the area’s ‘Take the Kids Free’ travel scheme to all under-18s using buses and the Metro.
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Measure every investment decision against its impact on child poverty.
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Continue work carried out to divert young people away from criminality (which McGuinness began as PCC).
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Fund special after school clubs that give a pre-apprenticeship training to young people.
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Trial a Mayor’s Childcare Grant for those getting back into work or training.
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Expand schemes run with local authorities that put benefits support in schools across our region and into early years settings.
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Offer free travel on public transport for young people.
East Midlands
In a hotly contested race for its for East Midlands first elected mayor, Labour’s Claire Ward beat Conservative candidate Ben Bradley.
Ward has pledged to:
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Invest in childcare, helping working parents get back to work.
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Deliver apprenticeships for young people and make sure everyone can get the skills they need.
London
Labour's Sadiq Khan beat Conservative candidate Susan Hall to win an unprecedented third term as Mayor of London.
Khan won 44% of votes in the capital compared with Hall's 33%.
Ahead of the vote, Khan pledged to focus on youth investment including the creation of 250,000 youth club spaces across the capital and boost his MyEnds programme, run by the mayor's Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) to tackle causes of crime involving young people in London.
Read the full story here.
Greater Manchester
Labour's Andy Burnham also took a third term as Mayor of Greater Manchester, with almost two thirds of the votes.
Burnham received more than 350,000 more votes than the Conservatives' Laura Evans, who came second with 68,946.
He has pledged to:
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Begin to introduce the MBacc (Greater Manchester Baccalaureate) from September – a new technical education pathway starting at age 14 which will “directly connect young people with high-quality opportunities across the fast-changing economy of Greater Manchester”. The introduction of the pathway would include working with Greater Manchester’s VRU to to create a new referral pathway for young people at greatest risk of involvement in crime.
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For those taking their GCSEs this summer, Burnham vowed to bring forward the first offer of T Levels linked to “high quality work placements, via a central application system, to start in September 2024”.
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Maintain free buss pass for 16- to 18-year-olds and introduce half price monthly passes for 18- to 21-year-olds.
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Pilot the ‘Halls of Apprentice’ concept which would see accommodation provided for young people who wish to move across the region to take up apprenticeship opportunities.
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Ensure that there are sufficient supported pathways for young people who are neurodiverse, have learning disabilities, special educational needs or other disabilities.
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Boost the cities network of youth zones.
Liverpool
Labour's Steve Rotherham takes a third term in Liverpool, winning 183,932 votes compared with 28,708 votes for Conservative candidate Jade Marsden.
Rotherham has laid out a comprehensive plan for children and families which includes:
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Embedding AI tutors in local schools to create “personalised, data-led interventions” to match private schools
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Implement a childcare guarantee in the Liverpool City region including launching a commission into childcare, identifying ways to address the systemic challenges that prevent mums from returning to work and stops dads from being able to access shared parental leave and boosting recruitment, retention and skills development in the childcare sector.
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Increase investment for children in deprived areas through a new “cradle to career” plan.
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Campaign for the national government to reintroduce the Education Maintenance Allowance for children from eligible families.
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Campaign for the full devolution of powers over technical and academic education for 16-to 19-year-olds.
South Yorkshire
Labour's Oliver Coppard held on to his role as South Yorkshire mayor for a second term, with 51% of the region's votes.
Coppard will also take on the role of Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) following the retirement of current PCC Dr Alan Billings.
In his mayoral campaign manifesto, Coppard has pledged to:
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Trial free travel for young people on public transport.
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Build on his Beds for Babies’ scheme, guaranteeing a safe place to sleep for every child under-5 across South Yorkshire.
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Create a South Yorkshire talent identification programme; investing in the next generation of athletes, musicians, artists and entrepreneurs.
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Protect young people by intervening early to prevent knife crime, taking a zero-tolerance approach when knife crime happens.
West Yorkshire
Labour's Tracy Brabin has been re-elected for a second term as West Yorkshire's mayor.
She secured victory over second-placed Conservative candidate Arnold Craven by 275,430 votes to 82,757 under the first-past-the-post system.
Brabin, who was previously the Labour MP for Batley and Spen, became the county's first ever elected mayor in 2021.
She has vowed to:
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Implementing a plan to reduce serious violence on our streets.
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Increase access to culture and sports for all children.
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Work with local councils to boost the availability of childcare in places where it is needed.
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Deliver a new service to provide advice to young people, parents, teachers, and schools about the opportunities a great technical education can bring.
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Extend £2 single Mayor’s Fare scheme for a further four years to reduce public transport costs for families.
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Deliver a serious violence strategy, co-produced with partners and affected communities, in a bid to “bring a child first lens to tackling all forms of violence within our communities”.
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Implement the Labour Party’s pledge of Youth Futures Hubs – dubbed Sure Start for teenagers – in West Yorkshire, regardless of who wins the next general election.
West Midlands
In a big win for Labour, the party's candidate Richard Parker ousted the Conservative's Andy Street who has served as West Midlands' mayor for two terms and was tipped to take a third.
Parker has pledged to:
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Create 150,000 jobs and training opportunities across the West Midlands.
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Guarantee a high-quality apprenticeship to every young person who wants one.
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Work with a Labour government, if elected in the next general election, and councils to “lead a revolution in universal childcare offer in the West Midlands”.
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Invest in affordable and reliable public transport for young people and “look at cheaper bus travel for children”.
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Work with education leaders, NHS trusts, police forces and councils to introduce mental health support workers in every school.
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Work with schools and colleges, faith leaders and community organisations to support young people at risk of involvement in crime through the appointment of a youth worker in every community.
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Continue to place youth workers into accident and emergency departments to work with young victims of violence.
This article was last updated at 9.30am on 5 May.
