Today you get to choose your new Metro Mayor. Remember it is a TWO round single transferable vote system so you get a first choice and a second but with FOUR candidates you can end up with your vote being discarded and not counted in the final round.

We have a election page that should give you a good breakdown of what each candidate is doing for walking and cycling.

Your Second choice is your Tactical Vote

What we do know is that that Samuel Williams (Conservative) has the worst manifesto when it comes to active travel and climate but being the only candidate on the right will gain the most votes in the 1st round.

This makes your second vote vital.

This analysis by Friends of the Earth Southwest is interesting:

There is also very detailed analysis by Nigel Marriott of why your second choice is a very complex issue in the South West given the mix of election results in the past.

So how should you vote?

Vote with your heart with your first choice and vote with your mind with your second.

[EDIT: Within minutes I had this comment “Isn’t that wrong? The first vote has to be the tactical. Putting a candidate first that will be knocked out in the first round could mean your second choice is also knocked out.”]

Good luck. Even with all the knowledge I have in this space I’m still unsure of how to vote today. It would be much better to be able to place all candidates in order of preference and then knock one out each round.