2021 West Yorkshire mayoral election

The inaugural West Yorkshire mayoral election is expected to be held on Thursday 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of West Yorkshire. It will take place on the same day as other local elections across the United Kingdom, including council elections for each of the five constituent council authorities and the police and crime commissioner of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

2021 West Yorkshire mayoral election
6 May 2021
Incumbent Mayor

Position established

The mayor will be elected by the supplementary vote (SV) system and will chair and lead the combined authority. The contest will be the first election for a governing body for the West Yorkshire region since the last West Yorkshire County Council election in 1981, before the county council's abolition in 1986. An initial three-year term will be granted for the inaugural mayor. The second mayoral election is planned to take place in 2024.[1][2]

Background

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) was first proposed in 2012 as part of the City Deal for the Leeds City Region. It was negotiated between the coalition government, Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership and the five West Yorkshire local government districts of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield.[3][4] The combined authority was established on 1 April 2014, following a public consultation and statutory approval on 31 March 2014.[5][6] There was support from the five boroughs for a "One Yorkshire" proposal, which would have elected a mayor for the entire Yorkshire region. However it was rejected by the government in 2019.[7][8]

The Nexus building at the University of Leeds where the devolution deal was signed

The devolution deal was formally signed on 12 March 2020 in the Nexus building at the University of Leeds. After further negotiations, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced in the March 2020 UK budget that the government and the West Yorkshire authorities had agreed a proposed West Yorkshire devolution deal.[9][10][11]

The mayor's role will include handling of a £38 million a year investment from central government for 30 years.[12] The mayor will have control over regional transport (including working toward creating a regional mass transit system), housing, land (with responsibility for creating a city region spatial plan) and adult skills.[2][13] By 2024 the role will absorb the responsibilities of the police and crime commissioner for West Yorkshire, similar to the mayor of London and the mayor of Greater Manchester.[1][2]

Prior to the election, the Labour Party has control of all five boroughs of the city-region. However, in the general election that took place in December 2019 Labour lost four seats in the city-region to the Conservatives- leading to the Conservative co-chair and MP Amanda Milling stating "Many people may have already written the election off as a Labour victory, but as we can see from the four new Conservative constituencies in West Yorkshire, it is not a foregone conclusion".[14]

Candidates

Brexit Party

Speculated

Conservative Party

Speculated

Labour Party

Declared

Speculated

Declined

Liberal Democrats

Speculated
  • Nick Clegg, Facebook vice-president and former deputy prime minister[15]

Yorkshire Party
  • Bob Buxton, the leader of the Yorkshire Party and a parish councillor in Rawdon, announced in August 2020 that he would be his party's candidate.[21]

Independent

Speculated
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References
  1. Lavigueur, Nick (14 November 2018). "Who could be the Mayor when West Yorkshire devolution happens?". LeedsLive. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  2. Beecham, Micheal (25 March 2020). "Devolution: What powers will the West Yorkshire mayor have?". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  3. "Proposal: A Leeds City Region Deal" (PDF). July 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  4. "Six biggest English cities get extra powers". Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  5. Scheme for the Establishment of a Combined Authority for West Yorkshire
  6. "The West Yorkshire Combined Authority Order 2014" (PDF). Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  7. "Government rejects 'One Yorkshire' devolution deal". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 12 February 2019.
  8. Bounds, Andy (15 January 2020). "Councils sign up to South Yorkshire devolution". Financial Times. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  9. "West Yorkshire £1.8bn devolution deal agreed". BBC News. 11 March 2020.
  10. Westwood, Andy (12 March 2020). "Why Government plans to level up pose a challenge for metro mayor candidates". Centre for Cities. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  11. Parsons, Rob (13 March 2020). "West Yorkshire metro mayor can ask council tax payers to help fund key projects". Yorkshire Evening Post. JPI Media. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  12. Beecham, Richard (11 March 2020). "This is what the £1.8bn West Yorkshire devolution deal means for Leeds". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  13. Pidd, Helen (11 March 2020). "Sunak vows budget boost for regions – but not everyone is happy". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  14. Parsons, Rob. "Labour metro mayor in West Yorkshire 'not a foregone conclusion', says Conservative chairman Amanda Milling". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  15. Lavigueur, Nick (14 November 2018). "Who could be the Mayor when West Yorkshire devolution happens?". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  16. Lavigueur, Nick (20 March 2020). "Former Dewsbury MP Paula Sherriff announces she has breast cancer". YorkshireLive. Reach plc. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  17. "New name in West Yorkshire Mayor race". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  18. "Who Will Be the First West Yorkshire Mayor? | The Public Affairs Company". Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  19. "Keir Starmer: There's a gap between metro mayors and Westminster, I want to bridge it". www.pontefractandcastlefordexpress.co.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  20. Earnshaw, Tony (13 March 2020). "Busy council leader Pandor won't bid to be new WY mayor". The Press. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  21. "Yorkshire Party reveals its candidate for West Yorkshire Mayor". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
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