DAN Norris has confirmed he will “do both jobs” as newly elected Labour MP and Metro Mayor.
He says he will stay in the mayoral post at least for the remainder of his term, which runs until May 2025, and hinted he was considering running for Metro Mayor again if he found it was possible to do both roles.
Mr Norris won the North East Somerset and Hanham seat from Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg by 20,739 votes to his 15,420.
Reform UK, whose voters Sir Jacob had urged to support him – saying they would get “90% of what they want” – took 7,424 votes, enough to have made the difference if they had backed the Conservatives.
Mr Norris told ITV News West Country: “Until at least next May I will do both jobs. And that makes sense because to call a byelection when you’ve got an electorate of about a million people is a hugely expensive thing.”
He said the next few months would allow him to work out if doing both jobs would be possible in the long term.
“Obviously I will be taking soundings. But there’s a lot of precedents in politics. Many MPs are ministers, for example. I have done that myself and I think it’s very similar to being a regional mayor, so I think it’s doable.
“But I’m not going to make a decision now. I think it’s important to get a real sense of it and make an informed and sensible decision.”
MPs are allowed to be Metro Mayors of combined authorities and it has happened before. Dan Jarvis, MP for Barnsley Central and later Barnsley North since 2011, was also the Metro Mayor of South Yorkshire between 2018 and 2022.
Mr Norris went to 10 Downing Street when new Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner met England’s 12 regional mayors.
He said: “The Prime Minister meeting regional mayors is a positive example of the new government hitting the ground running.”
Mayors attending the meeting have been asked to draw up “local growth plans” to identify local specialisms to contribute to a national industrial strategy. Mr Norris said the West of England’s local specialisms would include “creative industries.”
Mr Starmer said: “My fundamental belief is that those with skin in the game are the ones who know best what they need. That’s why, for many years I have been in constant dialogue with metro mayors across the country about what works for their areas, and I will continue that now as Prime Minister.”
The West of England Metro Mayor heads the West of England Combined Authority, which includes Bath and North East Somerset Council, Bristol City Council, and South Gloucestershire Council. Mr Norris’s North East Somerset and Hanham constituency straddles both the council areas of Bath and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporting Service
Pictured, Dan Norris, on the right, at the meeting between Keir Starmer and regional mayors