West of England Mayor, Tim Bowles, has announced his retirement and confirmed he will not stand for re-election in May.

The Conservative Metro Mayor will bow out at the end of his term after nearly twenty years in local politics.

It comes amid a blazing row between the leaders of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) and his Bristol counterpart, Marvin Rees.

A process will now begin to pick the Tories’ candidate, while both Labour and Lib-Dems have chosen former MPs Dan Norris and Stephen Williams respectively.

Mr Bowles, who was voted in as the first Regional Mayor in 2017 after previously serving as a South Gloucestershire Councillor, said it had been an “honour and a privilege”.

He said: “I am proud of the track record of bringing our communities together so everyone can benefit from the skilled jobs, quality of life and new opportunities our area is home to.

“The combined authority has brought hundreds of millions of pounds to the region and seen major improvements that benefit every single person.

“We’re getting the region moving with a proper transport system that cuts congestion and improves air quality.

“Creating the MetroWest rail network, extending metrobus and developing our regional mass transit scheme are all the sort of long-term investments and strategic decisions that the West of England has been crying out for but simply couldn’t agree to make in the past.

“Now they are happening because we have a combined authority and a Regional Mayor.”

Stephen Sumner, LDRS