Local elections 2021: Steve Rotheram wins as Liverpool City Region Mayor

Video report by Hannah Miller.

Labour's Steve Rotheram has stormed to victory and been re-elected as Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region.Mr Rotheram was the first person elected to the new position after it was created in 2017 as part of a new devolution deal with Westminster that brought new powers to the region.Today [May 8] he was comfortably re-elected for what will now be a three-year term after elections were delayed by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Labour candidate easily fended off competition from Conservative, Green, and Liberal Democrat challengers to win on the first round of voting - securing a total of 198,726 votes.His closest challenger was Jade Marsden (Con) who got 66,702 votes, with Gary Cargill (Green) securing 40,211 votes and David Newman (Lib Dem) last on 35,049.

• Gary Cargill (Green) - 40,211 votes

• Jade Marsden (Conservative) - 66,702 votes

• David Newman (Liberal Democrat) - 35,049 votes

• Steve Rotheram (Labour) - 198.726 votes

Following the results, Mr Rotheram tweeted his thanks to his supporters.

The Labour politician said: "Massive thank you to everybody who has put your faith in me to continue as Labour Mayor of the Liverpool City Region.

"It's a massive vote of confidence in the power of devolution and the work I've done so far - now the Government has to back further devolution."

Mr Rotheram will particularly be buoyed by the fact he seriously outperformed the Labour vote in Liverpool City Council's mayoral and local elections yesterday.While the party in the city was hurt as voters turned away following a recent corruption scandal - people in the city of Liverpool and across the region have given Mayor Rotherama strong mandate and a ringing endorsement.

In the city of Liverpool vote, Mr Rotheram secured 66,995 of the 100,167 votes - a 66 per cent share.This was around 15 per cent up on Labour's overall vote share in Liverpool yesterday and 25 per cent up on the first choice votes for new city mayor Joanne Anderson.Overall, Mr Rotheram won 58.2 per cent of the votes - up around 12 percentage points on the Labour vote share in yesterday's results.

In his victory speech, Mr Rotheram commented on what has been a troubling set of results for Labour nationally.Mr Rotheram, 59, said: "The Labour Party is not just a passing vehicle to jump on to promote a personal ideology."The Labour Party is not a football to be kicked around by transient factions. We need to stop saying that we'll listen and start hearing what people are telling us"The result means he will once again sit at the top of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and take on the key strategic role to drive improvement and progress across the region - backed by a serious mandate.

What are the responsibilities of the Metro Mayor?

• The Mayor represents the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority - Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral

• They are responsible for areas including transport, employment, culture, digital and housing.

• They are responsible for the local transport budget and franchised bus services

• They have powers over strategic planning