Directly elected mayors have breathed new life into local democracy

Editorial: Even though Labour won a clean sweep of all but one of the metro mayors, the variation in party performance reflects the ability of strong local personalities to defy traditional loyalties

The Independent supports the cross-party initiative to extend the combined authority model across the whole of England (PA)

Never mind that George Osborne, the former chancellor, promoted directly elected mayors because he thought they were in the Conservative Party’s interest. Two of the newest mayoralties, the East Midlands, and York and North Yorkshire, were won by the Labour candidates.

It must have stung Rishi Sunak that the Tory was defeated in his own back yard – the York and North Yorkshire combined authority includes his own Richmond constituency.

Another combined authority, the North East, is an expanded version of the North of Tyne authority, and Labour won that too, seeing off a challenge from Jamie Driscoll, the Ken Livingstone of the North, who ran as an independent against his former party after being excluded for unspecified wrongthink.