Labour given a lift with mayoral win – and two more council seats

RE-ELECTED DONCASTER mayor Ros Jones has promised to prioritise the economy, skills and housing after securing a second term in the role.

Mrs Jones won in the first round of counting in the mayoral election, taking 50.92 per cent of the vote.

It is the first time in the history of the role that a candidate has won without second preferences needing to be counted.

She said: “I will continue on as we have been doing, actually driving the borough, making sure we’ve got the economy going in the right direction, skills coming forward, more housing, delivering all that we need to do and ensuring we mitigate any effects on frontline services.”

The emphatic result was a welcome lift for Labour in an otherwise difficult set of local election results for the party.

Mrs Jones refused to be drawn on the party’s prospects in the General Election, insisting “this is about Doncaster”.

In the council election, Labour gained two more seats on the authority.

Labour won Hatfield from the independents and Rossington from Ukip to take its tally to 43 Doncaster seats.

The Conservatives lost one seat to have seven, while Working for Mexborough’s tally of three was the same as the last election.

Ukip is no longer represented at Doncaster after its only councillor, Clive Stone, missed out on re-election in Bawtry and Rossington.