Labour selects Dan Jarvis as Sheffield City Region mayoral candidate

Dan Jarvis, the current MP for Barnsley Central, has been selected by ballot to represent the Labour Party in the Sheffield City Region mayoral election, due to take place in May this year. 

The former British Army Major beat Ben Curran, a trade union lawyer and Sheffield Councillor, to the nomination. Jarvis was elected with 2,584 votes to Ben Curran’s 1,903. Richard Caborn, a former MP for Sheffield Central, did not advance past Labour's longlist. He has since described the party's shortlisting process as 'unfair and undemocratic.'  

Labour members in the Yorkshire and Humber CLP were invited to vote for their preferred candidate. Mr Jarvis was endorsed by several prominent Labourites, including David Blunkett, Ed Miliband and Kevin Barron.  

A shock ruling by the Labour National Executive Committee earlier this week put Dan Jarvis' candidacy into jeopardy. The NEC ruled that Members of Parliament must now stand down if they are applying for another elected role, including Mayor. This means that Jarvis will have to resign as MP to continue the mayoral race. 

DevoConnect Director Steve Barwick said the result "answers one question but raises a whole lot more”. 

"First, the government is now faced with running a poll for a Sheffield City Region Mayor when in referendums, people in two of the areas were not in favour. To boot the Labour candidate now – who will certainly go on to win – is avowedly pro-'One Yorkshire’ and will use the election and subsequent position to push for a super Combined Authority and a Mayor with an electorate to rival that of Scotland’s. Will they now blink?'

"Meanwhile Labour will need to decide whether it follows through with their threat and insist Dan Jarvis stand down as an MP if he wins in May? The question is can they – as well as should they - insist? Might he even withdraw withdraw from the race in order to remain an MP? Or could he stay on an as independent MP?
 
“No matter how many questions today's result raised, what is certain is that devolution for the whole of Yorkshire got a big boost with Dan Jarvis’s selection.”

The Sheffield City Region mayoral election will take place on 3rd May. Voting is restricted to residents of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. The Liberal Democrat candidate is Hannah Kitching, a businesswoman and campaigner. The Conservative Party is yet to declare their candidate.