Labor wins York and North Yorkshire mayoral election

Updated 7 minutes ago

Labor has won the first election for mayor of York and North Yorkshire by almost 15,000 votes.

York businessman David Skaith won with 66,761 votes.

Overall, just under 30% of the total electorate turned out to vote for the region’s first mayor.

Conservative candidate Keane Duncan placed second place with 51,967 votes with Lib Dem candidate Felicity Cunliffe-Lister in third on 30,867.

Taking the stage at Harrogate’s Convention Center after his victory was announced, Mr Skaith thanked his wife Alice, his two children and staff and supporters.

“We’ve got a great opportunity to bring York and North Yorkshire together and really grow as one collectively.

“The message is clear from York and North Yorkshire that we want change.”

Responding to his defeat, Mr Duncan said: “Inevitably, I’m very disappointed, as you can imagine but we fought a fantastic campaign and reached corners of the county I never knew existed.”

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This election result is huge – and can’t be overstated.

Conservative Prime Minister – and North Yorkshire MP – Rishi Sunak is now represented by a Labor mayor.

And to get there, Labour’s David Skaith and his team had to chip away at a Tory majority in North Yorkshire that was, for a long time, baked in to local and national election results.

The signs of this result were first seen in the elections to the new North Yorkshire Council – when the Conservatives nearly lost a majority they had held for a generation.

Then, in July 2023, Labour’s Keir Mather overturned a massive Tory majority in the Selby and Ainsty by-election.

Despite those clues, this is still a huge achievement for Labour.

They pulled it off with a traditional, door-to-door campaign and being careful not to make huge spending commitments.

Contrast that with Conservative Keane Duncan’s high-profile push which came with several big ticket items – including buying and restoring Scarborough’s Grand Hotel.

Some traditional Tories looked at that and just weren’t buying it.

With the national political winds against him, Mr Duncan was faced with an uphill task.

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Mr Skaith, 35, was born and raised in Harrogate and studied sport at York St John’s University.

After a stint living in Brighton while his then girlfriend, now wife, trained to be a teacher, Mr Skaith returned to Yorkshire and opened the men’s clothing store Winstons of York in 2015.

He got involved in politics after his father died during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a tweet Rachael Maskell, Labor MP for York Central, said: “He is just the person to lead us across North Yorkshire in delivering the economy, services and future- for our communities.

“I am so looking forward to working with him.”

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves described the Labor win as a “fantastic result”.

North Yorkshire was considered by many as a Conservative stronghold with the county containing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s constituency of Richmond.

A Labor Party spokesperson said the result was “truly historic”, adding: “Keir Starmer’s Labor Party is now winning in Rishi Sunak’s backyard.

“The prime minister’s own constituents have taken a look at the two parties and elected Labour.”