What do Mayors in England actually do?

Updated in August 2026 to reflect changes to governance since the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act came into force.

We define the distinct roles of council mayors and the three-tier framework of Strategic Authorities, exploring how they function within the 2026 legislative terrain. 

Since our May 2025 update,  the legislative terrain has been fundamentally reordered by the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026. This act oversees the codification of a new national architecture for governance in England, moving from an ad hoc, ‘deal-based’ model to one structured around a three-tier framework of Strategic Authorities. 

As Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) and the government’s devolution agenda progress, it is important to outline the types of mayoral leadership, the distinct powers and responsibilities they hold, and how they relate to one another within this new statutory framework. 

What are council mayors?

Introduced by the 2000 Local Government Act, council mayors are political leaders of a single local authority, such as a metropolitan borough council. Their role is to directly exercise the council’s executive functions, which are devised by its appointed cabinet. There is generally a large focus on social care, local planning and waste management by those in these posts.

Under the 2026 Act, the creation of new council mayoralities is no longer possible. While existing council mayoralties can be retained, this adoption model is no longer available to new councils, including those expected to form in 2027-2028 following LGR. 

There are currently 13 Council Mayors in England in the following councils:

• Bedford Borough Council
• Croydon London Borough Council
• Lewisham London Borough Council
• Newham London Borough Council
• North Tyneside Council
• City of Doncaster Council
• Hackney London Borough Council
• Leicester City Council
• Salford City Council
• Tower Hamlets London Borough Council
• Watford Borough Council
• Mansfield District Council
• Middlesbrough Borough Council

Despite this coverage, this type of mayoralty has been ephemeral in many parts of the country, and other governance models have been preferred. Council mayors have ceased to exist in the following councils for various reasons:

• Bristol City Council (abolished in 2024 following referendum)
• Stoke-on-Trent City Council (abolished in 2009 following a referendum)
• Hartlepool Borough Council (abolished in 2013 following a referendum)
• Torbay Council (abolished in 2019 following a referendum)
• Liverpool City Council (abolished in 2023 following a council decision)
• Copeland Borough Council (abolished in 2023 following local government reorganisation)

What are Strategic Authorities?

The previous ‘combined authority’ has been subsumed into the new three-tier framework of Strategic Authorities, as established by the 2026 Act. This creates a more standardised framework for devolution across England:

• Foundational Strategic Authority (FSA): the base level of the new statutory framework. These non-mayoral strategic authorities – SFSAs (Single Foundation Strategic Authorities) and CFSAs (Combined Foundation Strategic Authorities) – focus on strategic regional functions, such as local transport plans, economic development, housing strategy, and skills. Whereas constituent upper-tier councils retain statutory responsibility for core local services like adult social care and children’s services.  
• Mayoral Strategic Authority (MSA): The regional tier led by a directly elected mayor. They focus on large-scale issues across council borders, specifically local transport, housing plans and regional job growth. Rather than handling neighbourhood-level services, the Mayor acts as a strategic coordinator, drawing individual councils together to plan for the region in its totality.
• Established Mayoral Strategic Authority (EMSA): The highest tier of devolved regional government under the statutory framework. These established MSAs have demonstrated the necessary governance credentials, empowering them to hold ‘integrated settlements’. These are multi-year funding blocks from the central government that consolidate multiple individual departmental grants into one pot, providing high-level fiscal autonomy on a large regional scale. 

Combined authorities now exist through this new statutory framework. While previously central for devo, they are now categorised as FSAs, MSAs or EMSAs. You can find more details on Combined Authorities here.

Not all mayors are created equal

To further confuse matters, some areas can have a council mayoralty whilst also being part of a Strategic Authority. Salford, for example, has a council mayor and is part of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (an EMSA). While the City Mayor of Salford holds authority over certain responsibilities, they do not serve as the principal mayoralty in the GMCA, just as another council mayor would not in an MSA. 

Additionally, the 2026 Act’s creation of ‘Areas of Competence’ provides an effective tool for untangling any doubling of responsibility that may emerge from this. For example, transport is managed at the regional level by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), yet Salford City Council and the City Mayor remain the statutory Highway Authority for the area. 

Those in favour of mayors say that they offer visible leadership and accountability with a direct mandate. Others have criticised the recent push for mayors as being at the cost of true localism and diverting power too far away from communities. LGIU’s polling with Ipsos suggests that the public has a generally positive attitude towards them.

Looking to the future of the English local government landscape, where every citizen will be covered by a mayor, we need to ensure that we utilise all the benefits of mayoralties. This will only be achieved through effective relationship-building among mayors, constituent councils, and other partners. Above all, mayors must be understood by and accountable to the public, who they ultimately serve.

What is the reorganisation agenda? Get into the details with LGIU’s essentials devolution and reorganisation kit here.