page_title: 2021 West Yorkshire mayoral election
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: 2021 West Yorkshire mayoral election / Background
caption_attribution_description: Nexus Leeds
context_page_description: 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.
  The mayor will be elected by the supplementary vote 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.
context_section_description: 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. The combined authority was established on 1 April 2014, following a public consultation and statutory approval on 31 March 2014. 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. 
  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.
  The mayor's role will include handling of a £38 million a year investment from central government for 30 years. The mayor will have 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. 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.
  Prior to the election, the Labour Party has control of all five boroughs of the city-region. However, in the 2019 general election Labour lost four seats in the city region to the Conservatives.
caption: The Nexus building at the University of Leeds where the devolution deal was signed
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