Labour candidate opens up commanding lead in East Midlands mayoral race
A new opinion poll shows that the Labour candidate, Claire Ward, has seemingly opened up a commanding lead in the East Midlands Mayoral campaign.
The poll, by More in Common, on voting intention for Thursday’s crunch vote, shows Ward – on 41% – well ahead of Conservative candidate Councillor Ben Bradley MP who is 13 points behind on 28%.
Councillor Ben Bradley MP
Alan Graves, the Reform candidate, is third on 14%, while Frank Adlington-Stringer is polling at 9%. Bringing up the rear are independent candidate Matt Relf and Liberal Democrat Helen Tamblyn-Saville – both on 4%.
The opinion poll covers the dates 19-24 April. Some 2,029 people were asked for their voting intention.
The More in Common figures show Bradley is holding onto just over half (56%) of those who voted Conservative in 2019, with 24% of those voters intending to vote for the Reform candidate.
Three-quarters of Labour’s 2019 voters are lining up behind Claire Ward. But 12% say they will vote for the Green candidate. 14% of her supporters voted Conservative in 2019.
Claire Ward leads Ben Bradley across every age group, except over-65 year-olds, where Bradley is ahead by 44% to 31%.
The More in Common poll points to just a 33% turnout for the poll on Thursday.
The news will come as a blow to Bradley who has made a big play of his local connections. While Ward was Labour MP for Watford from 1997 until 2010, Bradley is the current Tory MP for Mansfield and the leader of Nottinghamshire County Council. He has pledged to give up those two jobs if he is elected the first elected East Midlands Mayor later this week.
A £4bn investment in the future of the East Midlands is set to be steered by the public vote on Thursday.
The £4bn investment became viable following the government’s decision to decentralise some of its powers, transferring them to the mayor and the combined county authority through a devolution agreement reached in 2022.
Mark Rogers, interim chief executive of the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) said: “This is a big deal in every sense. It’s on a scale that the East Midlands hasn’t seen before and gives it the powers and resources it needs to turn around under-investment, tackle challenges and open up massive new opportunities for people and places.
“This is all about bringing power back to the East Midlands, and the most significant part of that process is the vote – the people will decide who’ll lead this transformation.”
The combined county authority comprises Derbyshire County Council, Derby City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, and Nottingham City Council and is also in collaboration with district and borough councils throughout Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
