Former Shadow Culture Secretary wins mayoral election

Labour's Tracy Brabin has been elected the first ever Mayor of West Yorkshire and first female mayor of a metropolitan area in England.

The victory has forced Brabin, the Shadow Culture Secretary until April 2020, to stand down as MP for Batley and Spen. A by-election is expected in July.

Brabin was most recently Shadow Minister for Cultural Industries. She took up the new role shortly after publishing a paper 'Culture for All', in which she argued for a more equitable distribution of culture: "My 30 years' experience as an actor, writer and freelancer in the creative industries has shown me first-hand that when you give working class people and opportunity to shine, the cultural life of our nation is richer as a result."

As part of her mayoral campaign, Brabin pledged to lead a Creative New Deal for West Yorkshire, create a biannual Town of Culture award for the region, and appoint a Night Czar to drive the night time economy.