2024 West Yorkshire mayoral election

The 2024 West Yorkshire mayoral election was held on 2 May 2024 to elect the mayor of West Yorkshire alongside the 2024 United Kingdom local elections.[1] Tracy Brabin of the Labour Party won with 275,430 votes.[2]

2024 West Yorkshire mayoral election
← 2021 2 May 2024 2028 →
Turnout32.71% Decrease0.4pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Con
Grn
Candidate Tracy Brabin Arnold Craven Andrew Cooper
Party Labour Co-op Conservative Green
Popular vote 275,430 82,757 66,648
Percentage 50.4% 15.1% 12.2%
Swing Increase7.4pp Decrease13.8pp Increase3.0pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Candidate Bob Buxton Richard Tilt Stewart Golton
Party Yorkshire Independent Liberal Democrats
Popular vote 47,937 46,443 27,501
Percentage 8.8% 8.5% 5.0%
Swing Decrease0.9pp New Increase0.1pp

Result by district

Mayor before election

Tracy Brabin
Labour Co-op

Elected Mayor

Tracy Brabin
Labour Co-op

Background

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The Mayor of West Yorkshire is the directly elected leader of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. The mayoralty handles the £38 million-per-year investment coming from the central government for 30 years from 2021.[3] The mayor has 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.[4][5] The role includes the responsibilities of the police and crime commissioner for West Yorkshire, similar to the Mayor of London and the Mayor of Greater Manchester.

The first election for the office was held in 2021, which Labour's Tracy Brabin won, winning with 59.8% of the vote to the 40.2% achieved by the second-placed candidate, Conservative Matthew Robinson.[6]

Electoral system

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Unlike the previous election, which used a supplementary vote system, this election was the first to use the first-past-the-post voting system to elect the mayor as a result of the changes made by the Elections Act 2022. Voters were able to vote for a single candidate, and the candidate receiving the most votes was elected mayor.[7]

Candidates

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Opinion polling

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The poll conducted by Censuswide was unweighted, and included 16–17 year olds.[14]

Dates
conducted
Pollster Client Sample
size
Lab Con Yorks Green Lib Dems Reform Others Lead
9–19 February 2024 Censuswide Yasper 1,001 52% 15% 8% 10% 8% 9% 37
6 May 2021 2021 election 43.1% 29.1% 9.7% 9.2% 5.0% 2.5% 1.5% 14.0

Result

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2024 West Yorkshire mayoral election[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Tracy Brabin 275,430 50.4 +7.4
Conservative Arnold Craven 82,757 15.1 −13.8
Green Andrew Cooper 66,648 12.2 +3.0
Yorkshire Bob Buxton 47,937 8.8 −0.9
Independent Richard Tilt 46,443 8.5 New
Liberal Democrats Stewart Golton 27,501 5.0 +0.1
Majority 192,673 35.2 +21.3
Turnout 546,716 32.7 −0.4
Labour Co-op hold Swing +10.6
2024 West Yorkshire mayoral election[15]
Districts Tracy Brabin
Lab
Arnold Craven
Con
Andrew Cooper
Green
Bob Buxton
Yorkshire
Richard Tilt
Independent
Stewart Golton
Lib Dems
Total valid votes
# % # % # % # % # % # % #
Bradford 55,878 44.73% 19,206 15.38% 14,394 11.52% 9,791 7.84% 19,889 15.92% 5,758 4.61% 124,916
Calderdale 27,228 53.08% 8,641 16.85% 6,070 11.83% 4,155 8.10% 3,205 6.25% 1,995 3.89% 51,294
Kirklees 47,897 43.67% 17,690 16.13% 19,296 17.59% 7,944 7.24% 12,138 11.07% 4,713 4.30% 109,678
Leeds 107,011 54.83% 26,563 13.61% 22,097 11.32% 19,062 9.77% 7,479 3.83% 12,971 6.65% 195,183
Wakefield 37,416 57.00% 10,657 16.23% 4,791 7.30% 6,985 10.64% 3,732 5.69% 2,064 3.14% 65,645
Totals 275,430 50.38% 82,757 15.14% 66,648 12.19% 47,937 8.77% 46,443 8.49% 27,501 5.03% 546,716

References

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  1. ^ "District Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority Mayoral Elections 2024". Bradford Metropolitan District Council. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  2. ^ "West Yorkshire Combined Authority Mayoral election". Leeds City Council. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Pidd, Helen (11 March 2020). "Sunak vows budget boost for regions – but not everyone is happy". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  5. ^ "Devolution: What powers will the West Yorkshire mayor have?". The Yorkshire Post.
  6. ^ "West Yorkshire Combined Authority Mayoral election". Leeds City Council. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Elections Act 2022".
  8. ^ "Tracy Brabin to run for second term as Mayor of West Yorkshire". BBC News. 18 September 2023.
  9. ^ "More for Yorkshire: Bob Buxton for Mayor of West Yorkshire". YorshireParty.org. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Kirklees councillor launches bid to become West Yorkshire's next mayor as he takes swipe at Tracy Brabin". Yorkshire Live. 14 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Conservatives reveal who will vie to be West Yorkshire mayor in next election". Yahoo News. 26 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Who can I vote for?". Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  13. ^ "Jonathan Tilt for West Yorkshire Combined Authority: Mayor of West Yorkshire". whocanivotefor.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Tees Valley Poll Misleading..." Twitter. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  15. ^ a b "Leeds City Council: Mayoral Election". Leeds City Council. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
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See also

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