Who are the candidates wanting to be the new South Yorkshire mayor? Long list of Labour candidates revealed

The full list of candidates seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service sent by a Labour member is as follows:

Coun Rachael Blake – Doncaster Coun Jake Kearlsey – Doncaster Dominic Jones – Barnsley Coun Mazher Iqbal – Sheffield Coun Jayne Dunn – Sheffield Oliver Coppard – Sheffield Lewis Dagnall – Sheffield

A Labour party spokesman said the candidates will now go out and seek nominations from affiliate bodies and constituency Labour parties (CLPs) in order to gain support.

Those with the relevant nominations will be invited to attend an interview process hosted by party bosses.

The nomination process will end on December 3 and the interview process will follow. It’s likely this will be whittled down to two or three candidates and party members will be able to vote on January 5, 2021.

The result will be announced sometime after ballots close on January 22.

The South Yorkshire mayoral election is expected to take place on Thursday, May 5.

Incumbent Dan Jarvis, is stepping down to concentrate on his duties as MP for Barnsley Central.

Coun Jake Kearlsey – Doncaster

Only elected back in May, Coun Kearsley represents the Town ward on DMBC. He attended the Labour party conference in Brighton as a Doncaster Central CLP delegate.

Lewis Dagnall – Sheffield

Married to Sheffield Hallam Labour MP Olivia Blake, Mr Dagnall represented the Gleadless Valley ward on Sheffield Council before stepping down in May.

Dominic Jones – Barnsley

The youngest candidate on the longlist, Jones has been a member of the Youth Parliament representing Barnsley. The university student was chosen to represent the UK in the G7 youth summit earlier this year.

Oliver Coppard – Sheffield

Former Sheffield Hallam parliamentary candidate, Coppard came close to unseating former Lib Dem deputy PM Nick Clegg in 2015. He worked as the field operations director for the Yorkshire & Humber Labour Remain campaign in the EU referendum. Since then, he founded Campaigns Plus, a community level behaviour change consultancy.

Coun Jayne Dunn – Sheffield

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.

Coun Rachael Blake – Doncaster

Arguably Doncaster’s most senior female council politician below elected Mayor Ros Jones, Coun Blake has represented the Rossington & Bawtry ward for a number of years. She currently has the children’s social care, communities and equalities portfolio.

Coun Mazher Iqbal – Sheffield

A senior councillor in Sheffield, Coun Iqbal has represented the Darnall ward since 2006 and currently holds the position of executive member for City Futures: Development, Culture and Regeneration.

Coun Iqbal was recently reinstated after a four-month suspension from cabinet as officers investigated a complaint into his conduct by a former council employee over allegations of inappropriate relationships with developers. Council Leader Terry Fox said the findings of the investigation “completely exonerated” Iqbal.