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Mayors and combined authorities

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Councils in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough working together on things that cross their borders, led by a mayor everyone in the area can vote for.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) is a Mayoral Strategic Authority with the functions and funding associated with that tier.

The mayor

Paul Bristow Conservative and Unionist Party

Elected on 1 May 2025.

Source: Democracy Club, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CC BY 4.0), read 26 October 2026. This is who won the most recent mayoral election; if the post has changed hands since without an election, this page won’t know yet.

Next mayoral election: Democracy Club hasn’t listed it yet.

What the government says about the next election

The Mayor is elected on a 4 year term. The most recent election was held in May 2025 with the next election scheduled for 2029. This will be done by Supplementary Vote, as will further elections.

What it decides

The law gives every authority of this kind powers under these headings:

Headings as printed in the government’s Devolution Framework Explainer: Mayoral Strategic Authorities (Open Government Licence v3.0), which lists each power under them. Which of them this authority uses, and how, is in its own papers.

Do all combined authorities do the same things?

The specifics of the powers of MSAs vary from place to place but typically include aspects of transport, skills, housing, and local infrastructure investment, and in some cases spatial planning, policing, health and employment support.

Police

As CPCA’s geography aligns with the Police and Crime Commissioner boundaries, the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will enable the transfer of Police and Crime Commissioner functions to the Mayor, subject to secondary legislation.

Fire and rescue

As CPCA’s geography aligns with the Fire and Rescue Authority boundaries, the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will enable CPCA to become the Fire and Rescue Authority for the area, subject to secondary legislation.

What’s different about how it is run

CPCA will continue to have the following distinctive governance arrangements:

Any decisions surrounding (a) the Local Transport Plan; and (b) any spending plans or plans for the allocation of transport-related funding require:

  • a vote at which all CPCA members are present
  • a two-thirds majority of members appointed by the constituent councils, with members for Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council in that majority, for any vote to pass

CPCA will also retain some additional powers in relation to nursery schools and education.

Councils in its area

Its constituent councils are Cambridge City, Cambridgeshire County, East Cambridgeshire District, Fenland District, Huntingdonshire District, Peterborough City and South Cambridgeshire District.

Every council in its area:

From the ONS Open Geography Portal, Local Authority District to Combined Authority lookup (LAD25_CAUTH25_EN_LU) (Open Government Licence v3.0), read 26 October 2026. A county council is listed when every district in it is in the authority and the government’s factsheet names it as a member.

Website
cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk (from mySociety)
Meetings and decisions
Democracy & Transparency (the link of that name on its home page, 26 October 2026)
Budget
Not yet read.
The mayor's page
Not yet read.
The mayor on Democracy Club
Paul Bristow
Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every authority page has the same sections in the same order. Sources: MHCLG, English devolution: Area factsheets (Open Government Licence v3.0); MHCLG, Devolution Framework Explainers (Open Government Licence v3.0); ONS Open Geography Portal, Local Authority District to Combined Authority lookup (LAD25_CAUTH25_EN_LU) (Open Government Licence v3.0); ONS Open Geography Portal, Local Authority District to County and Unitary Authority lookup (LAD25_CTYUA25_EW_LU_v2) (Open Government Licence v3.0); Democracy Club, EveryElection (CC BY 4.0); Democracy Club candidates (CC BY 4.0); mySociety, UK Local Authorities, with WhatDoTheyKnow home pages (CC BY 4.0 / CC BY-SA 4.0); Wikidata, official website (P856) (CC0). Parish and town councils are not covered yet. Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.