What the Greater Lincolnshire mayor will and won’t be able to do

Their goal is to provide strong leadership, speak for it on the national stage, and ensure major decisions for Lincolnshire are made in Lincolnshire.

The mayor will have a budget of £24m per year for the next 30 years.

This can be used to deliver on housing, commercial space or other major projects, particularly in areas where the private sector’s been reluctant to step in.

The new authority can buy or sell land for the purposes of growth and regeneration, including compulsory purchases where the local council agrees.

East Midlands mayor Claire Ward used £9m to kickstart the building of 1600 homes on brownfield sites across the region.

Meanwhile, £3.5m was delivered to Derby city centre with the hopes it would revitalise the area and attract big investors.

One of the arguments for devolved mayors is they give a single point of contact for a region.

Currently, a major business looking to invest in the region would have the choice of speaking to 11 MPs or ten councils of various sizes of responsibilities.

In theory, having the mayor should create a single well-known face, in the same way Sadiq Khan represents London or Andy Burnham does Manchester.

Currently, the council tax households pay is split between the county council, district council and the police force.

The new combined authority has the option to charge an extra precept, and can also charge a business rate supplement for economic projects.

However, this isn’t a guarantee, and could prove politically unpopular.

The mayor will produce a Local Transport Plan which they can spend their budget on.

However the top-tier councils will still be in charge of keeping the roads in good shape (or Highways England for the key A-roads and motorways).

Decisions about planning applications – from homes to businesses – will remain with local councils.

Several candidates have also made statements about stopping ‘nationally significant’ infrastructure projects like solar farms, but these powers will remain with the government.

Mayors in some areas have taken over the role of the elected Police & Crime Commissioner, letting them set the force’s budget and priorities.

This won’t be the case with Greater Lincolnshire, where the patch is covered by both Lincolnshire and Humberside Police.

Marc Jones and Jonathan Evison (Con) will remain in charge of these respectively.

While they will be influential, the new mayor won’t have a formal say on what decisions the government will make or vote in Parliament.

Any promises that candidates would reverse government policy – such as the winter fuel allowance cuts or changes to farmers’ inheritance tax – are likely to prove empty.