Newly elected Labour West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris has vowed to raise the profile of the region on the national and global stage while delivering a green recovery from the impact of the pandemic.
Mr Norris, pictured, won on the second round of the election, beating Conservative candidate Samuel Williams by 125,482 to 85,389.
The former MP for Wansdyke (now North East Somerset) from 1997 to 2010 and an environment minister under Gordon Brown, Mr Norris has also pledged to put employment first, saying he will hold a summit on skills and jobs within 100 days of taking office. He has pledged to create 23,000 green jobs for the region.
Other priorities over his four-year term include launching a new public transport system, housing and the environment.
However, his opposition to the expansion of Bristol Airport could put him on a collision path with the region’s business leaders, who have backed the airport’s growth, as well as with the Labour Mayor of Bristol.
The Metro Mayor leads the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), which covers the local authority areas of Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire.
The role includes leading the development of regional business, skills, housing and transport as well as delivering a post-pandemic recovery plan.
Mr Norris succeeds Conservative Tim Bowles, who did not stand for re-election. Mr Bowles became the first West of England mayor four years ago but was criticised by political opponents for his low profile compared to other regional leaders and what they saw as his failure to secure the funding for the region it warrants from Whitehall.
Mr Norris said: “I’m honoured to be elected as Metro Mayor for the West of England, an area I am very proud to call home.
“I will be a more visible Metro Mayor who gets things done and raises the profile of the region on the national and global stage, making sure we get the recognition we need and deserve.
"I will hit the ground running with a jobs and skills summit in my first 100 days and my Green Recovery Plan.
“Over the coming weeks I will be out and about across the region, meeting people and listening carefully to their views.”
Among Mr Norris’s manifesto promises were:
- Creating ‘truly liveable towns and cities with high-quality and zero carbon design’ and have a firm requirement for 35% of all new homes to be genuinely affordable.
- Intervening directly in housebuilding by doubling the current spending plans to £80m.
- Establishing a ‘Retrofit Accelerator’ programme and creating a Homelessness Taskforce.
- Creating a transport system for the 21st century, with green and reliable buses, trains, and walking and cycling options to connect our region.
- Starting a wide-scale transformation of our public transport network, investigating options such as mass transit and bus franchising.
- Implementing smart ticketing, with simple tap-in-tap-out payments, and effective advertising of cheapest fares and routes.
- Opposing the expansion of Bristol Airport.
- Tackling the climate emergency and protect nature by creating a £20m Green Recovery Fund, backing local producers while cutting food miles with an Eat Local campaign, and making the West of England the UK’s Bee Capital.
