{{Short description|British politician (born 1981)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Use British English|date=May 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Oliver Coppard.jpg | caption = Coppard in 2024 | name = Oliver Coppard | office = [[Mayor of South Yorkshire]] | term_start = 9 May 2022 | predecessor = [[Dan Jarvis]] | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1981|6|9|df=y}} | alma_mater = [[University of Leeds]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]]) | party = [[Labour and Co-operative|Labour Co-op]] | birth_name = Oliver James Coppard | birth_place = [[South Yorkshire]], England }} '''Oliver James Coppard''' (born 9 June 1981) is a British [[Labour and Co-operative]] politician serving as [[Mayor of South Yorkshire]] since 2022.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |date=6 May 2022 |title=Who is the new South Yorkshire mayor and what powers does he have? |url=https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2022-05-06/who-is-the-new-south-yorkshire-mayor-and-what-powers-does-he-have |access-date=6 May 2022 |website=ITV News }}</ref> He was re-elected in [[2024 South Yorkshire mayoral election|2024]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Local election results 2024 live: London mayor and West Midlands race being counted |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-68609732 |access-date=4 May 2024 |website=BBC News }}</ref>
== Early life and education == Coppard attended [[Silverdale School]] and [[High Storrs School]].<ref name="w253">{{cite news | last=Hayes | first=Dan | title='Are you Tony Blair or Tony Benn? I’m neither.' | work=Sheffield Tribune | date=23 April 2022 | url=https://www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/p/are-you-tony-blair-or-tony-benn-im | access-date=13 November 2024}}</ref>
He was awarded a [[bachelor's degree]] in Politics and Parliamentary Studies from the [[University of Leeds]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Oliver Coppard - Linkedin |url=https://uk.linkedin.com/in/olivercoppard?challengeId=AQFo8jXqPv2jTgAAAYAQOfqECSq9eYMXjglJNb-NpZVWejyfr3n7E4F3VRjV8CPIv2WYvDG4CCHm-gb3QO6fRuwYOgwrEOUHXQ&submissionId=0b6d8697-9857-e416-48f0-f91f7a6b3320 |access-date=9 April 2022 |website=Linkedin}}</ref> During his tenure at Leeds, he interned in the office of [[Dick Gephardt]], then the [[House Democratic Caucus|Democratic Leader]] in the [[United States House of Representatives|US House of Representatives]]. Coppard later interned in the office of [[Meg Munn]] when she was [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Sheffield Heeley (UK Parliament constituency)|Sheffield Heeley]].<ref name=":0" />
== Political career == At the [[2004 Sheffield City Council election]], Coppard was one of three Labour candidates who unsuccessfully contested [[Graves Park (ward)|Graves Park]].
Coppard volunteered for the [[Barack Obama|Obama]] campaign for the [[2012 United States presidential election|2012 US presidential election]]. He was director of the [[remain campaign]] in [[Yorkshire and the Humber]], and [[Lincolnshire]] for the [[2016 European Union referendum]].
Coppard stood in [[Sheffield Hallam (UK Parliament constituency)|Sheffield Hallam]] at the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 general election]], against then [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]] [[Nick Clegg]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Sheffield Hallam parliamentary constituency - Election 2019 |work= BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000922 |access-date=6 May 2022}}</ref> He failed to defeat Clegg but achieved a swing of over 16% from the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] to Labour. Coppard has stated that he chose not to contest the seat in [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019]] due to [[Antisemitism in the British Labour Party|Labour antisemitism]].<ref name=":2">{{cite web |last=Timms |first=Daniel |date=22 July 2023 |title=Kind, kinder, Coppard: is Sheffield's Mr Nice Guy too sweet for politics? |url=https://www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/p/kind-kinder-coppard-is-sheffields |access-date=30 April 2024 |website=Sheffield Tribune}}</ref>
In the [[2022 South Yorkshire mayoral election]], Coppard was selected as the Labour candidate.<ref>{{cite web |title=South Yorkshire mayoral candidate wants to 'realise the potential' of the region |url=https://www.nationalworld.com/news/politics/who-is-oliver-coppard-labour-picks-former-sheffield-hallam-candidate-to-stand-for-south-yorkshire-mayor-3546187 |access-date=9 April 2022 |website=www.nationalworld.com |date=28 January 2022 }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite news |date=27 January 2022 |title=South Yorkshire Mayor: Oliver Coppard to stand for Labour |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-60155525 |access-date=9 April 2022}}</ref> He won the election, getting a plurality of votes in the first round, at 43.1% and defeating the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] candidate Clive Watkinson by a margin of 71.4% to 28.6% in the second round.<ref>{{cite news |date=6 May 2022 |title=South Yorkshire mayor result: Labour's Oliver Coppard wins |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61349529 |access-date=6 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=South Yorkshire Mayoral election: Live updates as the count takes place |url=https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/politics/local-elections-2022-live-south-yorkshire-mayoral-election-count-takes-place-following-results-of-sheffield-and-barnsley-local-council-elections-3682419 |access-date=6 May 2022 |website=www.thestar.co.uk |date=6 May 2022 }}</ref><ref name=":1" />
On 12 March 2024, Coppard announced £2.2 million funding to provide a safe space to sleep for every child aged 0-5 in South Yorkshire.<ref>{{cite web |title=A safe space to sleep for every child aged 0-5 |url=https://southyorkshire-ca.gov.uk/news/article/12cf5653-9626-437b-b8e2-98884859c985 |website=South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority |date=12 March 2024}}</ref> Coppard told the ''[[Yorkshire Post]]'' that he established the programme because he knew that 'one in nine babies that go home from hospital in Sheffield alone go home without a safe place to sleep' and they can 'end up sleeping in a bath or a box, a drawer, in a bouncy chair'.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Leigh |title=South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard on free children's beds scheme: 'We can make a difference' |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/health/south-yorkshire-mayor-oliver-coppard-on-free-childrens-beds-scheme-we-can-make-a-difference-4568305 |work=Yorkshire Post |date=26 March 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240326100715/https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/health/south-yorkshire-mayor-oliver-coppard-on-free-childrens-beds-scheme-we-can-make-a-difference-4568305 |archive-date=26 March 2024}}</ref> The scheme is delivered by the UK charity Baby Basics, who had already established the need and the format for addressing it.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://baby-basics.org.uk/partnerships/|title=Partnerships|website=Baby Basics|accessdate=24 September 2025}}</ref>
On 22 March 2024, under Coppard's leadership the [[South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority]] formally brought the [[South Yorkshire Supertram|Supertram]] under public control.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Walsh |first1=David |title=Supertram Sheffield: Vital network back in public hands with mayor promising to improve services |url=https://www.thestar.co.uk/business/supertram-network-back-in-public-hands-with-mayor-promising-to-improve-services-4564264 |access-date=26 March 2024 |date=22 March 2024}}</ref> This move was welcomed by commentators, with Matthew Topham from Better Buses for South Yorkshire calling 'a day of celebration when our local transport will be run by and for the people it serves'<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sebestyen |first1=Roland |title=Bus campaign group celebrates the new deal for South Yorkshire trams and sends a message: ‘The game is up’ |url=https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/politics/bus-campaign-group-celebrates-the-new-deal-for-south-yorkshire-trams-and-sends-a-message-the-game-is-up-4565683 |access-date=26 March 2024 |work=The Star, Sheffield |date=22 March 2024}}</ref> and a Sheffield Councillor called it a 'brave decision' that deserves 'all of our support' in a column for the ''[[Sheffield Telegraph]]''.'<ref>{{cite news |last1=Parekh |first1=Minesh |title=Northern Lights: Let’s get our public transport network moving once again |url=https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/northern-lights-lets-get-our-public-transport-network-moving-once-again-4557932 |work=Sheffield Telegraph |date=16 March 2024}}</ref> Plans to bring the tram under SYMCA ownership had been set in motion by previous Mayor Dan Jarvis.
== Personal life == Coppard is a resident of Sheffield. He is Jewish.<ref name=":2"/> Coppard is the Board Chair at the [[Sheffield Hallam University|Sheffield Hallam]] Students' Union.
== References == {{reflist}} {{commons category}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coppard, Oliver}} [[Category:Mayors of South Yorkshire]] [[Category:1981 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates]] [[Category:Labour Party (UK) mayors]] [[Category:People associated with Sheffield Hallam University]] [[Category:Labour Co-operative combined authority mayors and deputy mayors]] [[Category:People educated at Silverdale School, Sheffield]] [[Category:People educated at High Storrs School]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds]] [[Category:20th-century English Jews]] [[Category:21st-century English Jews]] [[Category:Jewish English politicians]] [[Category:Jewish mayors of places in the United Kingdom]]