You’ve all asked for it, except for those who didn’t: my highly intelligent analysis of all the West Yorkshire mayoral candidates. A thread:

These are my OWN VIEWS, not those of my employer or my publisher or anyone else. I am not a member of any political party, and I am not an activist for, and nor do I represent any of the political parties mentioned.

BOB BUXTON, Yorkshire Party. Bob wants a mass transit system for W Yorks, greener homes, safer streets, and devolution for W Yorks. Bob also wants an end to the managed area in Holbeck, but doesn’t mention any sort of safety plan for sex workers.

ANDREW COOPER, Green Party. Cooper’s running mate is a former Bradford councillor & NHS worker (+1 for me) and is hot on green jobs and green homes & the environment, and accessible & affordable public transport. Good policy on high streets IMHO

STEWART GOLTON, Lib Dems. Here's what I think of when I think of the Lib Dems 1. £9000 tuition fees. 2. bedroom tax. 3. That ad where Jo Swinson put on a pair of gold Primark shoes and tidied up a pretend house in a bid to appear relatable. You can vote for them if you like.

THERESE HIRST, English Dems. Nationalist parties like this have a tactic of targeting poor areas to whip up immigrant hatred. Weirdly obsessed with the Magna Carta. Candidate doesn’t even live in West Yorkshire, but in Essex, 200 miles away. Please don’t vote for these dicks.

MATT ROBINSON Cons. Wants to give the police more tasers. His manifesto mentions ‘No playing politics’ which seems odd, given that he’s planning to be a politician. 1/10 Matt, PS your mates ruined the country

WAJID ALI Reform/UKIP. Ali wants to improve environment by letting cars use bus lanes (?) stop the police wasting time on “woke nonsense” (?) and introduce an ‘incompetency hotline’ where people can ring in and complain about public sectors workers like teachers & nurses. Hmm

TRACY BRABIN, Labour. Current MP of Batley & Spen, Brabin wants to bring public transport back under public control, create more jobs for the young, build 5000 sustainable homes, and ‘lead the battle to tackle the climate emergency’, bit light on detail on how she'll do it

The candidates who want to improve public transport are: Bob Buxton, Andrew Cooper, Stewart Golton, Tracy Brabin. Homes: Buxton, Cooper, Brabin. Policing: All of them

Devolution: Buxton;
High Streets & Creativity: Cooper, Brabin
Jobs: Cooper, Robinson, Brabin
Homelessness: Ali

Who has got women in their team?
Cooper, Brabin
Who talks about the environment in a realistic way?
Buxton, Cooper, Golton, Brabin