Sheffield City Region mayoral election: Labour narrows candidates from seven down to four

Four Labour candidates are now in the running for the South Yorkshire Mayoral Election, after the Labour party whittled down the list from seven.
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Mayor Dan Jarvis, who is also MP for Barnsley Central, is standing down ahead of the next election in May 2022.

The list has now been narrowed down to just four candidates and party members will be able to vote on January 5, 2021.

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Former Sheffield Hallam candidate and city councillors on Labour candidate list ...
Lewis Dagnall is one of the Labour candidates.Lewis Dagnall is one of the Labour candidates.
Lewis Dagnall is one of the Labour candidates.

Rachael Blake

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Doncaster Councillor Rachael Blake represents the Rossington & Bawtry ward and holds the children’s social care, communities and equalities portfolio.

Councillor Blake has pledged to bring buses back into public ownership, and ‘help all four corners of South Yorkshire work together’.

Other pledges include supporting a new deal with employers and colleges to create fully funded ‘job guarantee schemes’, and fighting against the climate emergency.

Coun Rachael Blake is one of the Labour candidates.Coun Rachael Blake is one of the Labour candidates.
Coun Rachael Blake is one of the Labour candidates.

Oliver Coppard

Oliver is a former Sheffield Hallam Parliamentary candidate, who came close to unseating Nick Clegg in 2015, and has since founded Campaigns Plus, a community level behaviour change consultancy.

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Mr Coppard says he would like to ‘build an even better region and deliver a New Deal for South Yorkshire that has Labour values at its heart: fairness, opportunity, community, cooperation and solidarity’.

Mr Coppard also says that ‘Public transport should be under public control’, and has pledged to plant 1.4 million trees across South Yorkshire – one for every person who lives here.

Coun Jayne Dunn is one of the Labour candidates.Coun Jayne Dunn is one of the Labour candidates.
Coun Jayne Dunn is one of the Labour candidates.

Lewis Dagnall

Mr Dagnall represented the Gleadless Valley ward on Sheffield Council before stepping down in May.

Mr Dagnall says he is standing for a ‘socialist Green New Deal for South Yorkshire’, and hopes to mandate a bus service network through franchising if elected.

Oliver Coppard is a Labour candidate.Oliver Coppard is a Labour candidate.
Oliver Coppard is a Labour candidate.
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Mr Dagnall also pledges to ‘fight for the powers and resources necessary to deliver a localised skills agenda fit for our region and the twenty-first century’.

Jayne Dunn

Councillor Dunn, a senior councillor in Sheffield with the education, children and families portfolio, also runs a small business.

In the 1980’s she was a single parent who was made homeless, then living in social housing.

She taught in further education at Sheffield College, before setting up her own business in 2000.

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Coun Dunn says she is ‘honoured’ to have been short-listed, and will prioritise public transport, ‘skilling-up’ the region and will support a ‘Green New Deal’ if elected.

Coun Dunn also said she will “Fight to get the money and work to develop the strategy to deliver [a public transport system].

“This means public ownership, contactless ticketing, and better bus routes.”