End Mayor delay costing our area millions

The recent budget has made the case for electing the new Mayor of Hampshire and the Solent in 2027 rather than 2028 even stronger.

From 2027, areas with Mayors are set to keep 20% of all the business rates collected in their area to spend locally - but we won't get that.  

Lib Dem candidate for Mayor, Martin Tod, is running a petition to persuade government to bring the election back to May 2027: 

“The delayed election means we are set to miss out on up to £180m which could have come to us locally. It could have been spent on building local skills, supporting local businesses, improving local infrastructure and protecting our local environment - much of which will now be going into a central government pot instead.”