Dan Jarvis to step down as S Yorkshire metro mayor

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, the artist formerly known as the Sheffield City Region, has announced that its Metro Mayor Dan Jarvis will not contest the next election in May.

"Having led South Yorkshire for the past few years, and having put in place a devolved arrangement that has taken us through the worst of the pandemic and is really starting to deliver for people in South Yorkshire, I think that now is the right time to think about who’s best placed to build on these achievements," said Jarvis in a video statement. "But that person won’t be me. I wanted to let people know that I won’t be standing again as mayor next May. But in the meantime I will, of course, continue to give 110% to the role."

This announcement comes a year after South Yorkshire agreed a devolution deal with the Government to unlock local control over spending previously allocated from Whitehall.

Jarvis, who is also MP for Barnsley Central, has signalled that he intends to focus on a return to frontline politics in Westminster. He previously undertook not to combine both roles longterm, when he was elected Metro Mayor in May 2018.