West of England mayor results unpacked as Labour clinch four-way race

Helen Godwin has held the West of England mayoralty for Labour in a closely fought campaign, seeing off threats from Reform, the Tories and the Greens.

Labour secured a majority of less than 6,000 votes over Reform UK’s Arron Banks, with the Green Party placing third.

Godwin secured only a quarter of the vote, with Labour’s share down by eight percent and with a swing from Labour to Reform UK of 15%.

Polls ahead of the election had predicted a close contest between Labour and contenders from several other political parties, with pundits raising an eyebrow at the potential for the successful candidate being elected on a very small proportion of the vote.

READ MORE: Inside the West of England mayor campaign, from Tory and Green threats to Dan Norris and low voter awareness

Following the result, Labour sources highlighted that polling last week had suggested a win for the Green Party, and yet the party lost votes and were down roughly two percent in their share of the vote.

“The Conservative vote has also plummeted by 12 percent. Voters have been appalled at the pact that the Tories and Reform have been discussing over the campaign,” the source said.

Godwin, a former Bristol city councillor who narrowly missed out on being the party’s candidate in 2020, campaigned on a “new chapter for the West of England”, with a reliable and consistent bus network, more railway stations and “the right homes in the right places”.

Labour also painted the contest as a two-horse race between Labour and the Tories, which may have helped squeeze some of the Green, Lib Dem and perhaps even Tory vote.

READ MORE: Council by council Labour gains and losses – and its position in each mayor race

She faced competition from Reform UK candidate and co-founder of the Leave.EU campaign Arron Banks, Bristol Conservative councillor Steve Smith, Green candidate Mary Page and Bath Liberal Democrat councillor Oli Henman.

The campaign was mired in scandal when outgoing mayor and MP for North East Somerset and Hanham Dan Norris was arrested last month. He has since been released on conditional bail.

Following the arrest, Norris was suspended by the Labour Party and banned from the parliamentary estate.

One Labour source familiar with the region said: “Hard work by Labour campaigners in WECA region and a solid ground game has worked for this election and Helen Godwin will make a fantastic metro mayor for the region – congratulations to her.

“But it’s five organised parties now – or four, as the Tories are in a mess, and they have left a mess for the country which people remember.

“My take – Maurice Glassman isn’t always right. Labour cannot and must not ignore the threat from Greens. People across the country do want action on climate change.”

It comes as Labour lost the Runcorn and Helsby by-election to Reform by just six votes, with one of the closest parliamentary by-elections in history going to a recount and Reform’s swing exceeding national polls.

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The first drip of council results early on Friday also looked alarming for both the Conservatives and Labour, with Labour losing 12 seats in Northumberland.

But the first three major sets of results fully declared all saw Labour edge tight victories to hold on, with Reform finishing second in three mayoralties – North Tyneside, West of England and then Doncaster.

In Doncaster, Labour’s Ros Jones was re-elected for a fourth time, but only by around 700 votes to Reform.

In North Tyneside, Karen Clark held it for Labour but with only 32.4% of the vote to Reform’s  29.4%. Labour’s vote tally more than halved, however, from 33,119 for Clark’s outgoing predecessor in 2021 to just 16,230 this time round.

Read more on the 2025 local elections:

Results on the day

Analysis and what to expect

• Runcorn blame game begins – why did Labour lose?
• ‘Labour has lost in Runcorn – here are the eight things the party should do now‘
• MPs who could lose their seat on Runcorn by-election swing to Reform
• ‘Results so far say one thing: voters think change isn’t coming fast enough’
• Three ways to measure Labour’s success tonight
• Expert predicts ‘bad night’ with no net Labour gains
• ‘Uxbridgitis: If election results are grim, let’s not learn the wrong lessons again’
• Where’s Keir? PM barely features in Labour party election broadcasts for the locals
• The meme elections: Labour’s social media pivot to take fight to Farage

LabourList’s on-the-ground reports from the campaign

• Hull and East Yorkshire: Labour candidate spars with Reform’s boxing star in UK’s most disillusioned city
• Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Nik Johnson on why he’s standing down and Anna Smith on knife-edge Labour-Tory fight to replace him
• West of England: Tory and Green threats, Dan Norris and low voter awareness
• Lancashire: Long shadow of Gaza looms over key battleground

Inside the Runcorn campaign

• Mood on the doorstep: Labour’s last push for Tory voters to keep out Reform
• At least 150 Labour MPs visit – but Keir Starmer ain’t one
• Karen Shore interview: Labour candidate on Reform, the NHS and closing asylum hotels
• Runcorn poll: One in ten Labour voters expected to back Reform

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