South Yorkshire Mayor: Oliver Coppard to stand for Labour

Labour have selected Oliver Coppard as their candidate for the South Yorkshire mayoral election in May.

Mr Coppard, who stood as the party's 2015 parliamentary candidate in Sheffield Hallam, said he was "proud and grateful" to be chosen.

Dan Jarvis, the present incumbent and the Labour MP for Barnsley Central, announced in September he would not seek re-election.

Mr Coppard is currently board chair at Sheffield Hallam Students' Union.

Following the announcement he said: "I put myself forward to be the Labour Party's candidate for Mayor so I could fight for a more hopeful future for our region, the place I'm proud to call my home.

"Now I intend to earn the trust of people and communities of South Yorkshire, so we can begin to build that brighter future together."

The other candidates confirmed for the 5 May election so far are:

Simon Biltcliffe, The Yorkshire Party,

Bex Whyman, The Green Party.

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