Mayor Ros Jones commits to finishing fourth term, but won't rule out seeking re-election in 2029
“I will finish this term for definite. I will be there and keep pushing the other things we’ve got going on.”
The Mayor of Doncaster has committed to seeing out her term after the responsibility for reopening Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) shifted significantly to the South Yorkshire Mayor due to the impending site purchase.
Mayor Ros Jones was re-elected to lead the City of Doncaster Council after promising to get the airport reopened, but with the control and risk of the reopening set to move to the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), she insisted she has more to do.
Speaking after a meeting of her cabinet on October 28, 2026, the day after the SYMCA approved its purchase plans for DSA, Mayor Jones said: “I will finish this term for definite. I will be there and keep pushing the other things we’ve got going on.”
She said there was more for her to do, such as the regeneration of Waterdale and the city centre, before her current term ends in 2029.
As Mayor of Doncaster, Ms Jones is one of the voting members of the SYMCA, alongside South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard and the leaders of the region’s other local councils.
However, the proposed purchase of Doncaster Sheffield Airport from the current landowner, the Peel Group, will see the SYMCA take on a controlling stake in Fly Doncaster Ltd, the arms-length company Doncaster Council established to run the airport.
Once signed and sealed, the deal will see the control of the reopening and airport operations move away from Doncaster and towards the SYMCA, but Mayor Jones said she will continue to support the reopening.
“I want to see the airport moving forward, offering more jobs and growth… to stay near and go far,” she said.
Reopening Doncaster Sheffield Airport was the single-issue that Labour and Mayor Jones campaigned on in the 2025 local elections, but after over 13 years in office, Mayor Jones did not rule out that this could be her last term.
She said: “Listen, we’re in 2026. I was humbled by the people of Doncaster voting for me in for a fourth term.
“We have got an awful lot going on in this city.”