Burnham, Rotherham and Jarvis, who’s going to join the gang as West Yorkshire Mayor?

As the dust settles and the well earned congratulations on securing the biggest devolution deal to date are beginning to fade, there’s one question on everyone’s lips…who could be the first West Yorkshire Mayor?

Before we get to potential names, the  first question to ask, is what model will the region follow?

Will it be the well known MP route of Greater Manchester? If so could Ed Balls, Hillary Benn or Yvette Cooper be considering running?

Or will it foloow the Liverpool City Region model of an established figure from local government, which perhaps points to Lucinda Yeadon or Cllr Hinchcliffe?

Or will the region look to a private sector, independent figure akin to Andy Street in Birmingham? In that case would Roger Marsh OBE DL fit the bill, or perhaps as this editor hopes, the former Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield, Sir Patrick Stewart could run for office.

The only thing that is certain is that the next 14 months will see much debate over who is to become West Yorkshire’s first directly-elected Mayor.

For now though, let’s continue to revel in the fact that the first Tory Yorkshire MP to deliver a budget in almost 200 years has agreed a deal that’s been over five years in the making and is certain to support West Yorkshire’s future ambitions.