Tracy Brabin chosen as Labour mayor candidate for West Yorkshire

Tracy Brabin said: "May is a long time away in politics"

Former Coronation Street star Tracy Brabin has been selected as the Labour Party's candidate in the first West Yorkshire mayoral election.

Ms Brabin, who became MP for Batley in Spen in 2016, said she would step down as an MP if she won the contest, scheduled for May 2021.

An elected mayor was announced by the government in March as part of a devolution deal for the county.

The position will oversee policies on transport and housing.

Shadow culture secretary Ms Brabin, who joined the Commons in a by-election following the murder of Jo Cox, said: "We need a mayor who is going to get West Yorkshire our fair share when it comes to funding, jobs, transport and a recovery from the pandemic.

"There's a big north/south divide in this country and we deserve better than to be treated as second class citizens."

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It's the other deal we need to talk about.

West Yorkshire got its £1.8bn deal from the government in March. Next May, people in Kirklees, Calderdale, Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds will get to choose who spends it.

Your local council will stay, and you're getting another local politician.

Whoever it is will have powers over transport and housing - they'll also take over the role of police commissioner.

It also means West Yorkshire will be able to access pots of government money only accessible if you've elected a mayor.

Yorkshire has been looking over the Pennines at what Greater Manchester and Liverpool have done with their powers.

South Yorkshire followed and West Yorkshire is next.

If she wins, 59-year-old Ms Brabin will follow in the footsteps of former Labour MPs representing their regions as mayor.

Former health secretary Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram, an ex-parliamentary secretary to Jeremy Corbyn when he was party leader, took up Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region respectively.

Meanwhile, Dan Jarvis, mayor of the Sheffield City Region, is also the MP for Barnsley Central.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have yet to announce their candidates, while the Green Party's candidate is Andrew Cooper and The Yorkshire Party's is Bob Buxton.

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