The Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent was an executive mayoralty that existed from 2002 to 2009,[1] when the executive of Stoke-on-Trent City Council was a directly elected mayor. The authority was unique in being the only authority in England with an elected mayor and council manager.[2] The first mayor was Mike Wolfe, a former manager of the Citizen's Advice Bureau in the city. He had stood as an independent, but was defeated by Mark Meredith representing the Labour Party in 2005.[3] A referendum was held on 24 October 2008. Residents voted in favour of a return to the council leader and cabinet system.[4] There was controversy when it was revealed three years later that plans to close a swimming pool in the city had been agreed privately by the former mayor.[5]
| Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent | |
|---|---|
| Appointer | Electorate of Stoke-on-Trent |
| Precursor | Council Leader |
| Formation | 2002 |
| First holder | Mike Wolfe |
| Final holder | Mark Meredith |
| Abolished | 2009 |
| Succession | Council Leader |
Referendum
edit2002
edit| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
 Elected Mayor
|
28,601 | 58.2 |
| Cabinet System | 20,578 | 41.8 |
| Required majority | 50 | |
| Total votes | 49,179 | 100.00 |
| Source: House of Commons Library[6] | ||
2008
edit| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinet System
|
21,231 | 59 |
| Elected Mayor | 14,592 | 41 |
| Required majority | 50 | |
| Total votes | 35,823 | 100.00 |
| Source: This is Staffordshire[7] | ||
2002
edit| Stoke-on-Trent Mayoral Election 17 October 2002[8] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | |||||
| Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | |||||
| Mayor 4 Stoke | Mike Wolfe | 9,356 | 21.3% | 3,337 | 12,693 | 50.6% |
| ||
| Labour | George Stevenson | 9,752 | 22.2% | 2,627 | 12,379 | 49.4% |
| ||
| BNP | Steven Batkin | 8,213 | 18.7% |
| |||||
| Conservative | Roger Ibbs | 4,417 | 10.0% |
| |||||
| Independent | Geoffery Snow | 3,975 | 9.0% |
| |||||
| Liberal Democrats | Fred Morrow | 1,826 | 5.5% |
| |||||
| Independent | Paul Breeze | 1,349 | 3.1% |
| |||||
| Independent | Patricia Whitehouse | 1,280 | 2.9% |
| |||||
| Independent | Graham Wilkes | 1,157 | 2.6% |
| |||||
| Adrian Knapper Independent Party | Adrian Knapper | 708 | 1.6% |
| |||||
| Independent | Harry Chesters | 453 | 1.0% |
| |||||
| Mayor 4 Stoke win | |||||||||
2005
edit| Stoke-on-Trent Mayoral Election, 5 May 2005[9] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
| Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
| Labour | Mark Meredith | 27,253 | 32.9% | 9,708 | 36,961 | 61.5% |
| |
| Conservative | Roger Ibbs | 16,211 | 19.5% | 6,919 | 23,130 | 38.5% |
| |
| Supports Green Shoots | Mike Wolfe | 15,882 | 19.1% |
| ||||
| BNP | Steven Batkin | 15,776 | 19.0% |
| ||||
| Independent | Gary Chevin | 4,505 | 5.4% |
| ||||
| Independent | Justine Harvey | 1,955 | 2.4% |
| ||||
| Independent | Gary Falconer | 1,368 | 1.6% |
| ||||
| Labour gain from Mayor 4 Stoke | ||||||||
List of mayors
edit- Mike Wolfe (2002 to 2005)
- Mark Meredith (2005 to 2009)
References
edit- ^ "Staffordshire Live - Latest local news, sport & business from Staffordshire".
- ^ "Mayor 'No' vote would be ignored". 19 June 2008.
- ^ "Mayoral battle is won by Labour". 6 May 2005.
- ^ http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/breaking-news-city-votes-scrap-elected-mayor/story-12552564-detail/story.html [dead link]
- ^ "Ex-Stoke mayor Mark Meredith agreed Dimensions pool closure". BBC News. 23 November 2011.
- ^ "Local Elections in England: 2 May 2002" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 9 May 2002. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ^ "Referendum Result: City votes to scrap elected mayor". This is Staffordshire. 24 October 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
- ^ "Wolfe savours mayoral fight". The Guardian. 17 October 2002. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
- ^ "Local and Mayoral Elections 2005" (PDF). House of Commons library. Retrieved 23 December 2012.