The first-ever mayor of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority will be elected on Thursday 4 May 2017, the Government announced yesterday.

A directly elected mayor is a part of the Greater Manchester devolution deal and is intended to provide the local accountability needed with the new powers being devolved.

Northern Powerhouse Minister James Wharton said: ‘Greater Manchester are leading the way and on 4 May 2017 local people will have a direct say over who they want to run their city-region.’

Mr Wharton yesterday laid an order in Parliament to enable elections for the Greater Manchester mayor to go ahead – the first move under the new Cities and Local Government Devolution Act.

The first elections will take place on 4 May 2017, with subsequent elections in May 2020 and then every four years after that.

The Northern Powerhouse Minister also emphasised the importance of devolving power from Whitehall.

‘Building a Northern powerhouse is central to our plans to rebalance the economy,’ he said. ‘Key to that is handing powers back to local areas.’

The new mayor will have a number of new powers, including control of a £300m Housing Investment Fund and powers over strategic planning.

They will also be responsible for a devolved and consolidated transport budget and the role currently covered by the police and crime commissioner.

Finally, they will have control of a reformed earn back deal, within the current envelope of £30m a year for 30 years.