Labour's Tracy Brabin re-elected as West Yorkshire mayor

Labour's Tracy Brabin has been re-elected as Mayor of West Yorkshire.

Ms Brabin was declared the winner on Saturday following the county's second mayoral election on Thursday.

She secured victory over second-placed Conservative candidate Arnold Craven by 275,430 votes to 82,757 under the first-past-the-post system.

Ms Brabin, who was previously the Labour MP for Batley and Spen, became the county's first ever elected mayor in 2021.

The position was created following a devolution deal between West Yorkshire's five local authorities and the government.

The agreement gave the mayor powers over matters such as public transport, housing and adult skills.

As part of the 2021 deal, the mayor also inherited the office of the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, which holds the area's police force to account.

Taking to the stage at Leeds's John Charles Centre for Sport after her win, Ms Brabin said she had delivered on her 10-point manifesto from her initial election three years ago.

Describing herself as a "free school meals kid who grew up in a council flat", she said the "sky was truly the limit" for others in the county.

Speaking afterwards, she said: "I'm very humbled the public have put their faith in me for another four years."

Ms Brabin pledged her new term in office would be about "delivery, delivery, delivery".

She said her focus would be on such issues as "franchising buses, mass transit and investing in our communities".

Labour have remained confident throughout the campaign that Tracy Brabin would be elected for a second term.

All five local authorities in West Yorkshire are Labour-led, and although the party has lost overall control in Kirklees they remain the largest party there. The scale of this result is a real indication that Labour has consolidated its vote in the county.

However, there are signs the party needs to engage with Muslim communities in West Yorkshire over its position on the Israel-Gaza war.

A second term for Ms Brabin will certainly pose challenges.

Having taken the decision in March to bring the county's buses back under public control, she now has to prove that by taking control of fares and routes she can make the network more reliable.

In addition she has vowed to get "spades in the ground" for a mass transit system for West Yorkshire by 2028.

However, that will rely on funding some of it from the government - and we know the public purse is really stretched.

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