WEST of England Mayor Dan Norris has pledged to continue in the role after also being elected an MP.
Labour’s Mr Norris defeated the Conservative Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg in the new seat of North East Somerset and Hanham at the general election on July 4.
The following week he told ITV he would combine the two roles at least until the mayoral elections in May 2025.
Mr Norris, who was voted in as Metro Mayor in 2021, joined his counterparts at a meeting of regional mayors at 10 Downing Street with the new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.
he new government is keen to devolve more powers to Metro Mayors.
He hinted he was considering running for Metro Mayor again if he found it was possible to do both jobs.
He said: “Until at least next May I will do both jobs. And that makes sense because to call a by-election when you’ve got an electorate of about a million people is a hugely expensive thing, to have an election only to have it a few months later would be nonsensical. Also, to allow me to work out how I can do both jobs and whether that’s possible in the longer term and obviously I will be taking soundings. But there’s a lot of precedents in politics. Many MPs are ministers for example. I have done that myself and I think it’s very similar to being a regional mayor so I think it’s doable. But I’m not going to make a decision now. It’s important to get a real sense of it and make an informed and sensible decision.”
Dan Jarvis, who has been MP for Barnsley Central and later Barnsley North since 2011, was also the Metro Mayor of South Yorkshire between 2018 and 2022.
By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporting Service