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Labour’s Dan Jarvis has said that he will stand down as mayor of South Yorkshire when his term of office ends next spring. He was originally elected in 2018, when it was called the Sheffield city region mayoralty, not the South Yorkshire mayoralty.
At the time, despite facing criticism for the move, Jarvis decided to combine heading the new authority (which had very limited powers initially) with staying on as MP for Barnsley Central. In his statement today he says that was the right decision.
When I first stepped forward to take on the role, I took the decision to remain as a member of parliament. Some people didn’t agree with that, but I said from the beginning that this wasn’t a long-term arrangement. And I meant it.
I honestly don’t believe we would have made the progress we have, and we certainly wouldn’t have got the devolution deal over the line, if I had not stayed in Westminster. The settlement we negotiated helped take us through the worst of the pandemic and is really starting to deliver for people in South Yorkshire.
Like the Lib Dems (see 1.02pm), the Greens are also calling for an extensive home insulation programme as a response to the energy crisis. Zoe Nicholson, the party’s green new deal spokesperson, said:
Soaring gas prices threaten to increase further the appalling levels of fuel poverty this winter. The Conservative government must shoulder the blame for this crisis.
Recently, the green homes grant, that offered households the opportunity to insulate their homes and power them with renewable energy, was axed. That’s why Greens are calling for emergency grants to be made available immediately so households facing the prospect of cold and damp homes this winter can pay for simple insulation measures.
