Tracy Brabin | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2020 | |||||||||||||||
| Mayor of West Yorkshire | |||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 10 May 2021 | |||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Office established | ||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forBatley and Spen | |||||||||||||||
| In office 20 October 2016 – 10 May 2021 | |||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Jo Cox | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Kim Leadbeater | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1961-05-09)9 May 1961 (age 64) Batley,West Riding of Yorkshire, England | ||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour Co-op | ||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Loughborough University (BA) University of the Arts London (MA) | ||||||||||||||
| Website | Official Website | ||||||||||||||
Tracy Lynn Brabin (born 9 May 1961) is a BritishLabour Co-op politician and former actress who has been theMayor of West Yorkshire since the office was established on 10 May 2021. She was previously theMember of Parliament (MP) forBatley and Spen from 2016 to 2021.[1]
Born inBatley, Brabin was an actress and television writer prior to entering politics, appearing in several Britishsoap operas includingCoronation Street,Doctors,EastEnders,Casualty andEmmerdale. She was elected for Batley and Spen inan October 2016 by-election afterthe murder of previous incumbentJo Cox.
She was appointed asShadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport byJeremy Corbyn in January 2020, succeeding former Deputy Labour LeaderTom Watson. In April 2020, new Labour LeaderKeir Starmer removed Brabin from theshadow cabinet and appointed herShadow Minister for Cultural Industries.
She resigned as an MP after winning the2021 West Yorkshire mayoral election. Her resignation triggered aby-election, which Labour'sKim Leadbeater won. She is the first ever woman to serve as a metro-mayor.
She won a second term in the2024 West Yorkshire mayoral election.
Brabin was born inBatley in theWest Riding of Yorkshire, and educated atHeckmondwike Grammar School.[2] She studied drama atLoughborough University and gained aMaster of Arts degree in screenwriting from theLondon College of Communication of theUniversity of the Arts London in 2001.[3]
Brabin played clumsy waitress Sandra oppositeDavid Jason inA Bit of a Do,Tricia Armstrong inCoronation Street from 1994 to 1997, and Ginny in three series ofRichard Harris'sOutside Edge. She appeared inEastEnders asRoxy Drake,The Ghost Hunter as Mrs Oliver,Love + Hate as Gaynor, and in an episode ofMidsomer Murders ("Dead Letters", 2006).
In 2008, she appeared in a series of commercials for supermarket chainSainsbury's playing Sarah, a mother-of-two and Sainsbury's employee who does her weekly shopping at the store.[4] In 2014, she appeared as Lyndsey Bernstein inLaw & Order: UK, Pam inUndeniable, and asCarole inEmmerdale.[5][6]
InCharles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After (1992), Brabin playedSarah, Duchess of York. In 2012, she played Maggie, a mother who comes to realise she is one of a race of aliens, in artistShezad Dawood’s first feature, the sci-fi art-house filmPiercing Brightness.
Brabin played Linda, Sharon and Annie inSimon Beaufoy's playThe Full Monty,[7] an adaptation of his screenplay for the film, directed by Sheffield Theatre'sDaniel Evans. The play opened at theSheffield Lyceum to excellent reviews, followed by a national tour and aWest End run at theNoël Coward Theatre. The production was nominated for theBest New Comedy at theLaurence Olivier Awards in 2014. Brabin's previous theatre performances include the lead role in Shelagh Stevenson'sThe Long Road at Curve inLeicester directed by Adel Al Salloum and Joy inMeat written by Jimmy Osbourne for London's 503 Theatre.
Brabin has written forHeartbeat,Family Affairs,Crossroads,The Story of Tracy Beaker, andHollyoaks, on which she worked for two years. She has written forShameless forCompany Pictures and for three series ofSeacht – nominated for Best Youth Programme Irish Film and Television Awards in 2011. With her mentor Elizabeth Karlsen, the producer ofMade in Dagenham, she was involved on the romantic comedy featureFather August for the prestigiousShe Writes programme, withMinkie Spiro attached to direct. Brabin wrote an episode ofDoctors which was screened in December 2012.
Brabin publicly endorsed theLabour Party at the 1997 general election, writing an article for the Labour-supportingDaily Mirror newspaper explaining that her father-in-law had died on a hospital trolley while waiting to see a doctor.[8] In May 1998 she appeared in aparty political broadcast for the Labour Party, appealing for people to join it.[9] In March 2005, Brabin was the lead member of a group of nine actors to write toThe Observer explaining that while they continued to oppose theBlair government's military intervention inIraq, they still "strongly support the re-election of a Labour government".[10] She canvassed for the Labour Party in theKirklees council election in 2012.[11]
WhenJo Cox was selected as Labour candidate forBatley and Spen, Brabin joined her campaign against the closure of libraries in the constituency.[12]
In August 2016, Brabin said that she was considering standing in theBatley and Spen by-election, caused byCox's murder.[13] On 19 September, she was shortlisted along with Labour activist Jane Thomas.[14] Brabin was selected at a meeting on 23 September.[15] TheConservative Party,Liberal Democrats,Green Party andUKIP did not field candidates as a mark of respect to Cox.[16] On 20 October 2016, Brabin was elected with an increased majority of around 10,000.[17] She was then sworn in on 24 October.[18]
Brabin made hermaiden speech in theHouse of Commons on 2 November, paying tribute to her predecessor, whom she described as "inspirational". The speech won applause from fellow MPs.[19]
Brabin retained the seat in the2017 general election, with a majority of just under 9,000 over the Conservative Party candidate.[20] On 3 July 2017 she was appointed as Shadow Early Years Minister by Labour leaderJeremy Corbyn.[21]
Brabin was re-elected as the MP for Batley & Spen in the2019 General Election, with a majority of 3,525.[22] She was appointed asShadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in January 2020 after the previous holder,Tom Watson stood down at the 2019 general election.[23] She was replaced as Shadow Culture Secretary inKeir Starmer's Shadow frontbench announcement but madeShadow Minister for Cultural Industries.[24]
In March 2021, a teacher atBatley Grammar School showed cartoons depictingMuhammad, the founder ofIslam, from the French satirical magazineCharlie Hebdo during a religious studies lesson.[25] This led to protests. The school apologised and suspended the teacher involved.[26] The teacher was allegedly placed in police protection after receiving death threats.[27] Brabin responded to this by stating that she condemned the threats towards the teacher, welcomed the apology given by the school, and urged "all involved to work together and calm the situation".[28]
.jpg)
Brabin was the Labour Party's nomination for the inauguralMayor of West Yorkshire in the2021 election.[29] As a result, she stood down from her frontbench role to focus on her mayoral campaign, withAlison McGovern taking over her responsibilities.[30] The mayoralty includes powers over transport, crime and planning in the region of 2.3 million people, which includes the cities ofLeeds,Bradford andWakefield.[31]
In the election, held on 6 May 2021, Brabin won 43% of the first-round vote, failing to secure a majority, and 59.8% of transfer second-round votes, with the closest challenger being Matthew Robinson of the Conservative Party. This made her the first woman to be elected as ametro mayor.[32] Upon taking office, she became entitled to the style ofMayor.[33] Brabin follows two former Labour MPs –Andy Burnham andSteve Rotheram inGreater Manchester and theLiverpool City Region respectively – representing their regions as mayor, whileDan Jarvis, mayor of theSheffield City Region, has concurrently remained the member of parliament forBarnsley Central. However, Brabin had to resign her Batley and Spen seat, triggering a by-election,[1] asElectoral Commission rules make the police and crime responsibilities in the role incompatible with being an MP.[31]
Brabin stood for a second term in the2024 West Yorkshire mayoral election,[34] and retained the position.[35]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | A Bit of a Do | Sandra Pickersgill |
| 1989 | Hale and Pace | Various characters |
| 1989 | Coronation Street | Chloe (2 episodes) |
| 1991 | Riff-Raff | Singer |
| 1992 | El C.I.D. | Fran |
| 1992 | Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After | Sarah, Duchess of York |
| 1994 | Peak Practice | Lou Clarke |
| 1994–1997 | Coronation Street | Tricia Armstrong (193 episodes) |
| 1994–1996 | Outside Edge | Ginnie Willis (9 episodes) |
| 1995 | Mayday Mayday | Sylvia Redpath |
| 1999 | Sunburn | Sheila Adams |
| 2000-2001 | The Ghost Hunter | Mrs. Oliver |
| 2000 | Where the Heart Is | Stella Taylor |
| 2000 | The Bill | Mrs. Sanderson |
| 2000 | Doctors | Lucy Carlton |
| 2001 | EastEnders | Roxy Drake (7 episodes) |
| 2001 | Holby City | Lucy Gartside |
| 2002 | Nice Guy Eddie | Stephanie |
| 2002 | Silent Witness | Nina Palmer |
| 2002 | The Bill | Pam |
| 2003 | Is Harry on the Boat? | Isobel |
| 2004 | Bodies | Karen Taylor |
| 2004 | Heartbeat | Sandra Tetley |
| 2005 | Coronation Street: The Duckworth Family Album | Herself |
| 2005 | Love + Hate | Gaynor |
| 2005 | Holby City | Stella Howard |
| 2006 | An Audience with Coronation Street | Herself |
| 2006 | Rosemary & Thyme | Nicola Spicer |
| 2006 | Midsomer Murders | Ruth Chalk |
| 2006 | Strictly Confidential | Tina Roebottom |
| 2006 | Doctors | Tina Machin |
| 2007 | Casualty | Veek Kitching |
| 2007 | The Real Extras | Herself |
| 2007 | The Good Samaritan | Gloria |
| 2008 | Doctors | Amanda Webster |
| 2008 | The Bill | Isabel Edgar |
| 2009 | Casualty | April |
| 2014 | Emmerdale | Carole (7 episodes) |
| 2014 | Law & Order: UK | Lindsey Bernstein |
| 2014 | Casualty | Roz Conlon |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBatley and Spen 2016–2021 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |