Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram wins by a landslide

Labour’s Steve Rotheram has been re-elected as the Liverpool City Region mayor, following his first term in office when he was elected in 2017.

On winning the election, Mr Rotheram said, “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 was backed by voters in the Merseyside boroughs of Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral, as well as Halton in Cheshire.

Asked on BBC News what his secret was to a Labour victory, Mr Rotheram replied that “policies that mean something to people in the Liverpool city region: public transport, third sector role in local economy, environment. It’s not rocket science.”

The 59-year-old said it was a “massive vote of confidence in the power of devolution and the work I’ve done so far”.

He won by a significant landslide with 198,726 votes – which was 58% of the vote.

Conservative candidate Jade Marsden came second with 66,702 votes; less than one-third of the votes that Steve Rotherham polled. The Green’s Gary Cargill took 40,211 votes and Liberal Democrats’ David Newman had 35,049 votes.

Liverpool City Council said the voter turnout in the region was just over 30%.