Becoming a Mayoral Combined Authority

First ever Mayor of West Yorkshire

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 major cities and regions in the UK. They will work alongside the leaders of the councils in West Yorkshire (Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield) to help to make West Yorkshire a better place to live and work.

The Mayor of West Yorkshire will be the directly elected leader of the existing West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which brings together local councils and businesses to build a strong, successful economy. The Mayor will also have Police and Crime powers and responsibilities through transferring the Police and Crime Commissioner functions to the new Mayor of West Yorkshire. 

This means that more decisions on key issues affecting West Yorkshire communities will be taken in the region instead of by Central Government in London, and that the people of West Yorkshire can directly elect the mayor to represent them.

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

Through partnership we are determined to unleash our region’s full potential and in doing so raise living standards for our communities while making a full contribution to the UK economy.

We are now taking the next step to deepen our partnership through this devolution deal which will unlock significant long-term funding and, critically, give our region greater freedom to decide how best to meet local needs and create new opportunity.