Becoming a Mayoral Combined Authority

On 6 May 2021 residents of West Yorkshire will be able to vote for the first ever Mayor of West Yorkshire

The Mayor of West Yorkshire will have a similar role to the Mayors of Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, and other regions in England with devolution deals. They will work alongside the leaders of the councils in West Yorkshire (Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield) to help make West Yorkshire an even better place to live, work, visit and do business.  

The election of the Mayor will also change the way police and crime matters are overseen in West Yorkshire, with the Mayor taking on the functions of the Police and Crime Commissioner, supported by an appointed Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime.

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West Yorkshire Combined Authority & our devolution deal

The election of the Mayor has been made possible through a devolution deal, which was agreed by West Yorkshire’s five council leaders and the Government in March 2020 and became law in January 2021. The devolution deal will bring at least an additional £1.8 billion public investment into local control over the next 30 years, and is the biggest deal of its kind.   

This means that decisions currently taken in London will be taken in West Yorkshire, by people who know and understand the region and the places within it, and that we will have more influence and ability to invest in the things that matter locally, such as better transport, skills, housing and regeneration. The Mayor of West Yorkshire will be the directly elected chair of the existing West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which brings together local councils and businesses to build a strong, successful economy.