Dan Jarvis to stand down as Mayor of South Yorkshire in May 2022

In a statement he said: "It's an extraordinary privilege to serve as the first South Yorkshire Mayor.

"I'm very proud of all we have achieved, not least because I'm the only Mayor who inherited a situation where the powers and the money weren't already in place. Amidst the challenge, we've also faced Britain's departure from the EU, terrible flooding and the biggest health crisis in living memory.

"Despite the relentless pressures, we've succeeded in establishing a properly functioning Mayoral Combined Authority that's been able to unlock hundreds of millions of pounds of investment, that will protect and create thousands of jobs; deliver huge investment in our public transport system; get us on track to be carbon net zero by 2040 at the latest; and much, much more besides.

"I ran for Mayor because I thought delivering a devolution deal for our region was the most important thing I could achieve from opposition.”

Mr Jarvis will remain a Barnsley MP and said there was ‘still an awful lot’ he wanted to get done before stepping down.