Claire Ward elected as first East Midlands mayor

Labour's Claire Ward has been elected as the first ever East Midlands mayor.

The new mayoral role is a requirement of a £1.14bn devolution deal for the region and will cover Derby, Nottingham, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

The result of the election was declared at the Lexus Nottingham Tennis Centre on Friday afternoon.

Turnout for the election was 27.6%, the East Midlands Combined County Authority said.

Ms Ward received 181,000 votes, with Mr Bradley coming in second with 129,332.

Frank Adlington-Stringer, the candidate for the Green Party, was third with 50,666, while Reform's Alan Graves earned 49,201 votes.

Independent Matt Relf received 23,359 votes, while Liberal Democrat candidate Helen Tamblyn-Saville received 15,970.

In her victory speech Ms Ward has told the crowd Labour is "ready to lead", while Mr Bradley said he is "hugely disappointed" to be defeated but believes the East Midlands will be better off with the devolution deal.

Mr Adlington-Stringer spoke of his pride at polling in third place, telling the crowd: "History has been made by the Green Party."