THE tradition in America is for the Presidential election to always be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

In this country our General Election is not as prescriptive, and it is up to the Prime Minister of the day to decide when the election day will be – as long as it is within a five-year period.

Our local elections, however, are usually held on the first Thursday of May. And so, this year, our local elections will be held on May 2.

There will be different types of local elections up and down the country. For Cumbria, the only election we will have is for the Police and Crime Commissioner.

In other parts of the country, there will be elections for Police and Crime Commissioners as well as council elections – but perhaps the most high-profile elections will be the mayoral elections.

I think these mayoral elections will attract the most media attention, and will probably be the most significant elections in May.

Of course, there is the London mayoral election – a powerful position overseeing one of the world’s most important cities.

But there are some significant northern mayoral elections as well, such as Greater Manchester and the Tees Valley – as well as the West Midlands.

The current mayors of these regions – Andy Burnham, Ben Houchen and Andy Street – have become significant national figures as well as important local figures. As the systems gets more confident in the role of mayors, we are starting to see further additional powers pass to these new leaders.

There are four levels of devolution in England – with level one being pretty superficial, and level four containing true local power. Elected mayors are the deepest level of devolution in England and they are being handed considerable responsibility.

Indeed, this May virtually the whole of the north of England will be electing a mayor for their area.

Sadly, one of the few places that won’t be electing a mayor is Cumbria. This is increasingly leaving our county as an outlier, being left behind in terms of leadership, economic development, and financial support.

This is hugely disappointing – especially given the fact that we had an opportunity for an elected mayor back in 2014 which was turned down by the then-Labour council.

Fortunately, the Local Government Minister has now written to the two councils in Cumbria indicating he would be interested in discussing opportunities for Cumbria to enhance its levels of devolution to level three or even four.

Unfortunately, the Labour and Liberal Democrat councils are about to reach the dizzy heights of level one in their devolution settlements. This, in my opinion, is a failure of leadership and ambition.

Worryingly, it will mean that following the May elections, we will see other parts of the north of England develop and grow in the way that we should be doing.

I very much hope there will be a rethink from our councils, and they will be far more ambitious by embracing the opportunities that the mayoralty and devolution settlements offer, so that when it comes to the first Thursday of May 2025, the people of Cumbria can join the rest of the north in voting to for their own mayor with true powers and accountability.