VOTERS in St Helens will head to the polls next Thursday as the Liverpool City Region elects its first metro mayor.

Residents of the borough will join with Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, Halton and Wirral for the vote.

The new role was created out of the devolution deal between the government and the six local authorities, which sees power devolved from Whitehall to the region.

The devolution deal will see the mayor, who will chair the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, able to exercise powers in areas including transport, strategic planning, training and skills.

The concept of the city region and a metro mayor has been a subject of much controversy in St Helens, with worries expressed over erosion of the town's identity and the city region being dominated by other boroughs of the area.

Frontrunner in the election is Labour's Steve Rotheram, the Walton MP who beat off competition from City of Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson and Wavertree MP Luciana Berger for the candidacy.

Mr Rotheram says devolved powers from Whitehall present a golden "opportunity" for the region and that wrestling power from Westminster can help close the 'North South divide'.

Meanwhile, the Conservative candidate is former Cowley pupil and entrepreneur Tony Caldeira, who stated his focus will be on creating “economic growth and jobs”.

The Liberal Democrats' candidate is Carl Cashman, the party's leader on Knowsley Council.

Standing for UKIP is Paula Walters, the party's Wirral chairman, who said she would ensure investment is distributed fairly across the region.

Green candidate is Tom Crone, leader of the party on Liverpool City Council, who protested against development plans at Florida Farm North during his campaign.

Roger Bannister is standing for the Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition, with Tabitha Morton representing the Women's Equality Party and Paul Breen standing for Get the Coppers off the Jury.

The election will use the supplementary vote system in which voters can choose a first and second choice candidate.

All first choices are counted, and if a candidate has a majority, they are elected. If not, the top two continue to a second round and the second choice votes of those whose first choice has been eliminated are counted.

Whoever has the most votes after these have been allocated is declared the winner.

Polls will be open on Thursday (May 4) from 7am to 10pm. A count of St Helens votes is expected to take place at the town hall through the night, with the overall result to be announced the following day at the Liverpool Tennis Centre in Wavertree.