West Yorkshire mayor: Labour's Tracy Brabin elected as first mayor of the region

Labour's Tracy Brabin has been elected as the inaugural mayor of West Yorkshire following a second preference count.

She beat second-place candidate - the Conservative's Matt Robinson - by 101,786. The final result after the second preference count is as follows:

Tracy Brabin (Labour) 310,923

Matt Robinson (Conservative) 209,137

It is the first time that the city region, made up of Leeds; Wakefield; Calderdale; Bradford and Kirklees, has voted for a metro mayor - a role which is already in place in South Yorkshire.

Reacting to the win, Tracy Brabin said: "As a Yorkshire woman born and raised, this is an enormous privilege”.

The count went down to second preferences after Tracy Brabin failed to secure 50% of the votes in the first round.

Here's how the results stood after the first round.

Tracy Brabin topped the leaderboard after the first round Credit: ITV Calendar

Ms Brabin will have control over transport, housing and policing in the region.

During the election campaign, she promised to create 1000 new jobs for young people in the region and recruit 750 new frontline police officers.

Some of the other campaign pledges by the new mayor include:

  • Prioritise skills and training to ensure people have the skills they need to secure work.

  • Support local businesses and champion our regional economy.

  • Put keeping women and girls safe at the heart of my policing plan.

  • Bring buses back under public control, simplify fares and fight for smart ticketing.

  • Build 5000 sustainable homes - including council houses and affordable homes.

  • Battle to tackle the climate emergency and protect our environment. 

It is a good result for Labour as they lost ground in several councils around West Yorkshire, including in Wakefield where they retained control of the council but lost seats to the Conservatives.

Reaction from the other candidates

The Yorkshire Party's Bob Buxton secured third place after the first round, with 58,851 votes. He described it as an "absolutely fantastic result"