By Nick Isles (Director, CPRMB)
3 August 2025
This week, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order focused on supporting the mental health of boys and young men. The order focuses on suicide prevention and behavioural health, while also helping boys and men find a sense of purpose through education, family, and work that leads to careers.
In Maryland Governor Wes Moore is taking a similar stance. He has asked the American Institute for Men and Boys to work with him by employing a Senior Policy Fellow to “map the current [Maryland] landscape, craft action plans, and collaborate across Maryland to launch initiatives that make the state a model for improving educational, workforce, health, and civic outcomes.”
These leaders of these key parts of the Union of the United States are leading the way in taking men’s and boys’ issues and putting them front and centre of their efforts to grow and improve the lives of the citizens of the states they govern.
So who in England and the UK is taking a similar lead? Certainly Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has trailblazed in the current government by launching a Men’s Health Strategy, but what of our regional political leaders like Andy Burnham in Manchester or Sadiq Khan in London or Ben Houchen in Teesside? Some have indeed made some steps in talking about aspects of the issues affecting men and boys. For example Andy Burnham spoke about male victims of abuse. Tracy Brabin in West Yorkshire has done work on improving safety of men and boys. David Skaith, the new North Yorkshire and York mayor has announced a men’s mental health initiative.
However this is not the coordinated and comprehensive push being seen in the US states cited above. It would be encouraging to see our regional mayors collaborating and speaking about the issues of men and boys. They could collectively develop and invest in initiatives that help those men and boys who are in trouble, learning from pilot schemes and scaling up the best initiatives across their regions through the resources available to them.
Applying a gender sensitive lens to policies across the board may result in fewer men and boys being in trouble and more men and boys benefitting from the right policies applied in the right way.
We look forward to helping all Regional Mayors on research, strategies and plans.