Elections results 2021: Steve Rotheram re-elected as Liverpool City Region mayor

Steve Rotheram was first elected as mayor in 2017

Labour's Steve Rotheram has been re-elected as the Liverpool City Region mayor.

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".

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

He was elected as the area's first metro mayor in 2017.

Mr Rotheram said the government "has to back further devolution".

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, while the Greens took 40,211 votes and Liberal Democrats had 35,049 votes.

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

The region significantly bucked the national trend where Labour faced defeats in former strongholds, prompting the party to say it will overhaul policies to reconnect with voters.

• Liverpool City Region mayor results

Mr Rotheram said: "People aren't that bothered about happens in Westminster. Actually what people are interested in are their family, area, friends."

He said feedback from local residents had contributed to the ongoing rollout of a London-style publicly-owned transport system in the region.

Along with Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, Mr Rotheram had previously criticised the government's initial response on financial support during last autumn's regional lockdown.

Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham led criticism of the government's regional funding last year

Mr Rotheram was born in Knowsley into a Labour family with his father - a forklift truck driver - serving as a councillor in Kirkby in the 1970s.

He became a bricklayer after leaving school and set up his own company by the age of 22.

In 2002, he was elected to Liverpool City Council and was Lord Mayor during the city's year as European Capital of Culture in 2008-09.

He previously worked as parliamentary private secretary to former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and was Liverpool Walton MP in 2010-17.

Analysis

By Claire Hamilton, BBC Radio Merseyside political reporter

A majority of 132,000 - it doesn't get more decisive than that.

Yes, turnout was about 30% - but Steve Rotheram's victory is one he will celebrate as a vindication of the way he's performed as metro mayor, and the fruits of devolution.

He won 50% - or more - of the vote in every single part of the city region, more than last time.

Proof, he says, that his message of no-one being left behind has been heard by people from Runcorn to Southport.

The Conservatives came second in this contest… but a very distant second.

No sign of this red wall crumbling any time soon.

On Friday, Labour's Joanne Anderson was elected as the city mayor of Liverpool.

The councillor, who has represented the Princes Park ward since 2019, made history as she became the first black woman to lead a major British city.

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