Cheshire & Warrington confirmed for Greater Manchester style devolution

MCRJourno

The Cheshire and Warrington region has been confirmed as part of the Government’s devolution priority programme.

This means that plans to hold mayoral elections in May 2026 have been accepted by the government and the news has been welcomed by the leaders of the region’s three councils.

Modelling the same setup as the mayoral system in Greater Manchester - power and partial funding would be taken out of Westminster and given to a representative for the region.

Councillor Louise Gittins, Leader of Cheshire West & Chester Council said in a joint statement with local councillors: "Cheshire and Warrington being part of the priority programme shows that government is confident in [our] ability to seize the opportunities that a devolution agreement could bring.

"It puts us at the front of the queue for significant power and funding and devolution would allow us to make more decisions here in Cheshire and Warrington, rather than decisions about our region and its almost 1 million residents being made in London."

Confirming Cheshire and Warrington’s inclusion among the devolution priority areas, Angela Rayner, Deputy Prime Minister of the UK said that Lancashire was already deciding its options and the government would look at their proposals in the autumn.