Labour Win In "Rishi Sunak's Backyard" With York And North Yorkshire Mayoralty
David Skaith campaigning with Keir Starmer and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper last month (Alamy)
2 min read
Labour have won "in Rishi Sunak’s backyard" after taking the York and North Yorkshire mayoralty.
Labour candidate David Skaith has won the election to become the first ever Mayor of the York and North Yorkshire, beating Conservative candidate Keane Duncan.
Skaith, who runs a clothes shop in York and chairs the York High Street Forum, won 66,761 votes, compared to Duncan's 51,967.
The Liberal Democrats came in third with 30,867 votes and turnout was 29.89 per cent.
The Labour businessowner centred his campaign on pledges to introduce a cost of living support fund for residents and setting up a high street fund designed to support businesses financially and strategically.
The fact that Labour has won this contest in the new York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority is bad news for the Tories, as the region includes many traditionally Conservative-voting areas, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's own seat of Richmond in Yorkshire.
A Labour spokesperson said: “This is a truly historic result in York and North Yorkshire. Keir Starmer's Labour party is now winning in Rishi Sunak’s backyard. The Prime Minister’s own constituents have taken a look at the two parties and chosen Labour.”
The result in York and North Yorkshire came shortly after Labour were confirmed as the winners in the North East mayoralty.
Kim MGuinness won the contest for Labour with 41.3 per cent of the vote, ahead of independent Jamie Driscoll with 28.2 per cent of the vote.
Labour also won the mayoralty in the East Midlands, with Claire Ward beating Conservative candidate, MP and leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, Ben Bradley.
Ward received more than 181,000 votes across the combined county authority, compared to Bradley's 129,332.
The Green Party came in third with more than 50,000 votes, and the Reform party in a close fourth.
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