Parliament debates the next phase of English devolution - including how mayors will be voted in
Angela Rayner and her ministerial team faced wide-ranging scrutiny this week as the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill began its journey through Parliament. Debates spanned electoral reform, public safety, regional power-sharing, and the mechanics of mayoral accountability – all with one eye on future mayoral models like the proposed Sussex and Brighton arrangement.
👉 If you enjoy that sort of thing (like us), you can read the full Bill on Parliament.uk
🗳️ Voting for mayors is changing – again
The Bill proposes to reverse the 2022 move to First Past the Post (FPTP) in mayoral elections – and reintroduce the Supplementary Vote (SV). That means voters will get a first and second choice, with the top two candidates going to a runoff if no one gets over 50% on first preferences.
Rayner described the change as “restoring legitimacy” to high-stakes roles with large mandates and even larger budgets.
🔁 The change would apply to:
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Combined authority mayors
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Police and crime commissioners
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Any new directly elected regional roles
The SV system is thought to be more sympathetic to independent candidates, and those without big party machinery behind them. It can also lead to more positive campaigns, because candidates need second choice votes from their rivals' supporters.
The Bill needs to pass into law before spring 2026 to affect the next mayoral cycle – otherwise, the changes take effect from 2027. So it is unclear which system will be used for the first planned election in Sussex at the moment.
🔥 Fire and Rescue Authorities: mayoral oversight beefed up
The Bill formally allows mayoral combined authorities to become Fire and Rescue Authorities – but with strict governance:
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Mayors must create a Community Risk Management Plan, reviewed by a relevant scrutiny body
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Budgets for fire services must be published, consulted on, and justified
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Scrutiny bodies can issue formal reports on priorities and spending – with mayors required to respond and publish outcomes
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A mayor who is also a Police and Crime Commissioner will be overseen by the PCC panel instead
This closes a long-standing policy gap and consolidates regional fire leadership under directly elected figures, like the existing Police & Crime Commissioner roles – subject to enhanced checks and balances.
Sussex currently has two Fire & Rescue Services (East and West Sussex), but this new proposed legislation paves the way for those to merge if they want to.
🗺️ More powers (and responsibilities) for mayors, but keeping a lot of strings in Whitehall
The Bill grants ministers wide powers to:
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Transfer functions between mayors and strategic authorities
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Abolish public bodies if their functions move to mayors
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Create new combined authorities and tweak existing ones
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Decide who votes on what in combined authority decisions – potentially overriding current rules
In short: the government wants flexibility to redesign local governance structures giving ever more powers to elected mayors as authorities mature, but only in areas that demonstrate local support, clear purpose, and governance capacity.
📍What does this mean for Sussex?
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If passed in time, future elections in Sussex and Brighton could be under the Supplementary Vote system – potentially enabling more consensus-building and positive campaigning
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A Sussex mayor could inherit more functions around fire governance, housing, transport, or economic development, provided scrutiny mechanisms are in place
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Combined authorities will need a coherent regional plan, a route to public backing, and the confidence of central government to unlock new powers
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