Doncaster rugby star to contest Batley and Spen by-election for Green Party

Ross Peltier, a Jamaica rugby league international prop who also plays for Doncaster Dons, lives with his partner and young children in the constituency, according to the Greens.

He is one of seven candidates confirmed to be standing in the West Yorkshire seat to replace former MP Tracy Brabin, who last month was elected as the county's metro mayor.

On his selection by North Kirklees Green Party 29-year-old Mr Peltier said: “From a young age I have been raised to have a passion for your local community, to give to and help others to create a better place for us all to live in.

“I gained this passion through my parents and how active they have been in communities within Kirklees and the West Yorkshire area. I was immersed in such events, meeting with community groups and really begun to understand that the diversity and strength in character is one of the major things that makes our region so special.

“I moved to the Cleckheaton area to raise my young family a number of years ago and loved the area since day one. As a working-class man who lives in the area in a humble terrace house, I feel I am like everyone else in the area and relatable to them.

“I feel I am in tune with the attitudes, needs and wants from the area through living and working shoulder to shoulder with everyday people within the community.

“As a professional rugby league player I have a profile of sorts in an area which holds rugby league as its beating heart. I feel I can bridge the gap with the working person who has been a single party voter all his life to the Green Party. “

Labour is defending a majority of 3,525 over the Tories from the 2019 general election.

Other candidates are: Kim Leadbeater (Labour), Ryan Stephenson (Conservative), Corey Robinson (Yorkshire Party), Jo Conchie (Liberal Democrats), Jack Thomson (UKIP), George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain).