Place over politics - What polling tells us about how successful devolution has been to date

The good news then is that the mayors don’t have to convince the public of the virtues of devolution. [...] There is very little awareness of the mayoralty in areas that will vote for the first time In contrast to the high recognition of existing mayors, the ability of people to name check candidates in the East Midlands and North East mayoral areas, who will vote for a mayor for the first time on 2 May, and their awareness that the election will happen, was low. [...] It shows that there is work to be done by the candidates themselves and the local media in both areas to raise awareness of the importance of the mayor and the election to come. [...] The results also raise concerns that there is very little awareness of the creation of the mayoral position and the forthcoming election in the East Midlands and 7 Centre for Cities Share of population (%) London West Midlands Tees Valley Greater Manchester South Yorkshire West Yorkshire North East Liverpool City Region East Midlands Place over politics • March 2024 the North East, the two areas t. [...] With five weeks to go this emphasises the need to raise awareness, and in doing so the local media and the candidates themselves should not just look to discuss the candidates, but the value and power of the institution too to raise turnout and boost the mandate of whoever is the eventual winner.