Who could be in the frame to become the county’s mayor?

WITH Yorkshire politicians again pushing for devolution there’s a chance an elusive deal could actually happen.

An independent study has been published that shows why a ‘One Yorkshire’ devolution proposal could be beneficial.

The plan backed by 18 Yorkshire councils, including Kirklees, Calderdale, Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds, has been lodged with decision makers in London in a bid to get the process off the ground.

If they agree, the people of Yorkshire would be asked to elect a mayor at some point in 2020.

The government has said one of its mandatory conditions for giving away devolution powers is for areas to elect a powerful mayor to rule over the patch.

The controversial plan is disliked by many local politicians, who worry their democracies will be undermined or over-ruled by the all powerful mayor.

What happened elsewhere? In Manchester the candidates were all little known councillors and local politicians, except for Labour heavyweight, former Health Secretary Andy Burnham, who won the vote.

In the West Midlands a similar story played out, with the candidates mainly low profile councillors and MEPs. The vote was eventually won by Andy Street for the Conservatives, the former managing director of department store chain John Lewis.

But who could be Yorkshire’s mayor? Will we have someone with more flair? Perhaps a charismatic “professional Yorkshireman” or woman with political ambitions, or could it be one of our higher profile MPs? Here are our guesses.

– Perhaps the best known MP in Leeds, he served in the cabinet for seven years during Labour’s dominance, so has experience at the highest level.

– Mirfield’s own Hollywood star has been outspoken on many political issues, most recently declaring himself an opponent of Brexit and organising to pay for people to travel to the