By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
An independent councillor has become the first person outside of the main political parties to confirm they will run to become the first East Midlands mayor.
Councillor Matt Relf (Ash Ind), of Ashfield District Council, will be on the ballot paper for the regional mayor poll next year.
The Sutton Junction and Harlow Wood politician announced his bid on Monday (July 24) and is technically the first person to officially be in the running for the role.
Labour and the Conservatives both have people vying to represent the parties on the ballot paper but neither has yet officially selected a final candidate to fight the election.
The poll to elect the region’s first directly-elected mayor is expected to take place in May next year.
The role will be similar to that held by Labour’s Andy Burnham in Manchester and will be the figurehead for the region’s £1.14bn devolution deal to bring extra funding and powers into the East Midlands.
The cash is expected to support local projects for areas like transport, housing, public health, the environment and education and skills.
It hinges on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill passing through Parliament by no later than the autumn to ensure a May 2024 poll can go ahead.
If it goes to plan, the mayor would lead a new combined authority – made up of representatives from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire councils and business leaders – to guide the funding.
Now Cllr Relf has confirmed plans to seek the mayoral position after holding elected office on Ashfield Council for almost five years.
He’s the cabinet member responsible for economic regeneration and was heavily involved in the council’s £62.6m Towns Fund bid.
This was the highest sum received by any authority in the country and followed another £6.27m being secured from the Future High Streets Fund.
He was recently voted by both Tory and Labour council leaders to represent the county’s district and borough councils on the D2N2 local enterprise board.
He also sits on the all-council Nottinghamshire Economic Prosperity Committee – which has guided the devolution plans – and is the leader of the Independent group at East Midlands Councils.
Outside politics, he’s been an IT businessman since 2009 and worked on projects including developing ticketing systems for Heathrow Express, Gatwick Express, Stansted Express and the A1 Grand Prix Race Series.
He is married with one daughter and has family in both Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
He says this means he understands and empathises with each corner of what he describes as the “forgotten region”.
On his bid, he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’m born and bred in this area, I love it and I want to see it prosper.
“The Government has decided this [devolution deal] is going to happen and there are money and powers that come with it. We’d be daft not to take it.
“Is it the right choice? I’m not sure it is but it’s coming anyway so let’s make the best of it.
“I’m just interested in changing the future of this region.
“Being able to go and talk to both Labour and Tory councils [as an independent mayor] without the political baggage, I think, is key to making this work.
“I’m already thinking in strategic terms with the work we’ve been doing here [at Ashfield District Council].
“I’ve got experience and background in business, running my own since 2009, I have a great deal of background around transport planning and we’ve done a great deal of work here around skills.
“These are going to be the main tenants of the combined authority.”
Labour is currently in the voting stages to decide its mayoral candidate and expects to announce the winner in August.
Former BBC East Midlands politics editor John Hess; Paddy Tipping, former Sherwood MP and Notts crime commissioner; and Claire Ward, ex Watford MP and now Sherwood Forest Hospitals trust chair, are the three candidates.
Cllr Ben Bradley, Mansfield’s Conservative MP and Nottinghamshire County Council’s leader, officially announced his bid to run for the Tory candidacy this month.
The only other Tory candidate to announce their intention to run is Cllr Barry Lewis, leader of Derbyshire County Council.
Further details of the party’s selection have not yet been made clear.
