Copyright mirror
What a victory for Zohran Mamdani in New York . As a mayor, it’s always interesting to watch other campaigns and quietly steal the best ideas, but this one was off the scale. More than half the vote, thousands of new people on the electoral roll, and a coalition that looked like his city - young professionals, families and immigrants - all excited by three clear offers: free buses, universal childcare and rent control, funded by those with the broadest shoulders. Why did it work? Because people are tired of politicians diagnosing problems but never quite fixing them . Mamdani didn’t just name the challenges - travel, childcare and housing costs - he put solutions on the table and was honest about who would pay. This isn’t rocket science, but it does contain a crucial lesson for politicians here in the UK: listen to people’s priorities, offer simple, realistic solutions, and show clearly how you’ll fund them. It also mattered that he reflected his city. Two of the world’s biggest cities now being led by Muslim men is a powerful signal to communities who’ve often felt locked out of power. Finally, a politician understood their lives. Mayors can do this because we’re closer to people. We commute on the same buses that don’t turn up, walk the same streets where people don’t feel safe, live in the same communities squeezed by housing costs. In West Yorkshire, I ran and won twice by proving I was on people’s side. That’s why we’re taking buses back under public control, building a mass transit system, delivering record numbers of affordable homes, and tackling serious violence so that every community feels safer. When people can see spades in the ground, new routes on the map, lower bills on their meter and more police on their streets, confidence in politics starts to come back. Because when people can see a mayor who sounds like them, fights like them and delivers for them, cynicism fades and turnout climbs. But Mamdani’s win is also a challenge against complacency. Doing the right things isn’t enough if the offer isn’t loud or big enough. With local elections just months away, now is the time to "turn up the volume". Keep the devolution revolution front and centre, so that mayors can offer bold, local answers to the cost-of-living crisis and to the lack of reliable transport, affordable housing and community policing. Labour nationally should match that spirit – with clear policies, real conviction, and an explanation for how we’ll pay for it. As a nation, we’re facing some difficult choices. As Rachel Reeves set out earlier this week, the public finances aren’t where we want them to be. But I know the Chancellor will deliver a Budget this month with Labour values at its heart, and with the right choices for our country. It’s been an enormous privilege to join mayors and city leaders from across the world at the C40 World Mayors Summit in Brazil. West Yorkshire has a great story to tell – from our plans for mass transit and more green buses, to our delivery of 1,000 clean, skilled jobs for young people through our Green Jobs Taskforce. We’ve shown how Bradford’s ULEZ has already cut respiratory GP appointments by 25%, and shared our ambition to become a truly swimmable region with cleaner rivers. Cities are the challenge but also the solution when it comes to climate change, and by working together after COP30, we can keep the target of 1.5C alive. We’ll be taking new ideas home to West Yorkshire and putting them to work. My thanks to Bloomberg Philanthropies for supporting this visit. Stalking legislation wasn’t created for the digital age, leaving it outdated and disconnected from the realities that women face. It’s why we’re working to close loopholes such as ‘stalking by proxy’, indirectly targeting victims through others. In West Yorkshire, we’re leading the call for change, meeting with Jess Phillips MP to ensure the voices of victims and survivors are heard, so the online world is a safe space for all. Having grown up with the safety and security of a council flat, I know that having a safe place to call home should be a right, not a privilege. With £1 billion to build new, affordable homes in West Yorkshire, this government is trusting mayors to get homes built and bring down council house waiting lists.
