2024 West Yorkshire Mayoral Election
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The 2024 West Yorkshire mayoral election is due to be held on 1 May 2024 to elect the Mayor of West Yorkshire. The election will take place the same day as council elections within the city region, as well as other local elections across England and Wales.
The election will be conducted using the First-past-the-post voting system, as opposed to the previously used Supplementary vote (SV) system which was used in 2021. The Mayor chairs and leads the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and incorporates the previous responsibilities of the police and crime commissioner for West Yorkshire, which was abolished in 2021.
Background[edit]
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 boroughs of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield.[1][2] The combined authority was established on 1 April 2014, following a public consultation and statutory approval on 31 March 2014.[3][4] 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.[5][6]
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.[7][8][9]
The mayor's role includes handling of a £38 million a year investment from central government for 30 years.[10] The mayor has control over regional transport (including creating a regional mass transit system), housing, land (with responsibility for creating a city region spatial plan) and adult skills.[11][12] Though the role was initially planned to absorb the responsibilities of the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner – similar to the mayor of London and the mayor of Greater Manchester- in 2024.[13][11] Changes in January 2021 meant that the role was being incorporated into the Mayor's office for May 2021.[14]
The first election to the position was held in 2021. The Labour and Co-Operative Candidate Tracy Brabin was elected as the inaugural mayor; winning 43.1% of the vote in the first round, and 59.8% in the second round.
Electoral System[edit]
This election will be the first to use first-past-the-post to elect the mayor as a result of the changes made by the Elections Act 2022, with previous elections in 2021 using the supplementary vote system. Voters will be able to vote for a single candidate, and the candidate receiving the most votes will be elected mayor.
All registered electors living in West Yorkshire aged 18 or over on 2 May 2024 will be entitled to vote in the mayoral election. Those who are temporarily away from West Yorkshire (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) will also be entitled to vote in the mayoral election. The deadline to register to vote in the election will be announced nearer the election.
Declared Candidates[edit]
Labour and Co-operative[edit]
Tracy Brabin, the former MP for Batley and Spen and current Mayor of West Yorkshire, a former actor and television writer, was announced as the Labour and Co-operative candidate on 18th September 2023. There is little known about her campaign platform for the 2024 Mayoral Election.
Independent[edit]
Jonathan Tilt, a member of the Freedom Alliance Party, has declared he will run as an independent candidate for West Yorkshire Mayor. He is a climate change denier[15] and promotes conspiracy theories as part of his campaign.[16]
He has declared that he will "use both aspects of the role to promote our freedom to travel, to speak and to meet and do business with each other. I will defend parents’ rights to be responsible for their children. In all decisions I will prioritise the interests of local people and communities over politically motivated initiatives coming from central government." [17]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Proposal: A Leeds City Region Deal" (PDF). July 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ↑ "Six biggest English cities get extra powers". BBC News. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ↑ "Scheme for the Establishment of a Combined Authority for West Yorkshire" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 January 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "The West Yorkshire Combined Authority Order 2014" (PDF). Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- ↑ "Government rejects 'One Yorkshire' devolution deal". bbc.co.uk. BBC News. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ↑ Bounds, Andy (15 January 2020). "Councils sign up to South Yorkshire devolution". Financial Times. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
- ↑ "West Yorkshire £1.8bn devolution deal agreed". BBC News. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Beecham, Richard (25 March 2020). "Devolution: What powers will the West Yorkshire mayor have?". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ↑ Pidd, Helen (11 March 2020). "Sunak vows budget boost for regions – but not everyone is happy". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ↑ Lavigueur, Nick (14 November 2018). "Who could be the Mayor when West Yorkshire devolution happens?". LeedsLive. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- ↑ Parsons, Rob (22 January 2021). "West Yorkshire metro mayor to take on police commissioner's powers from May". Yorkshire Post. Reach plc. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
- ↑ "Climate Alarmism – Jonathan Tilt. Independent Candidate West Yorkshire Mayor 2024". jonathan-tilt.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ↑ "UK Column meets the Vote Freedom Project—Jonathan Tilt | UKColumn". www.ukcolumn.org. 2023-04-04. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ↑ "Manifesto – Jonathan Tilt. Independent Candidate West Yorkshire Mayor 2024". jonathan-tilt.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
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