Rugby League international set to stand in election

Rugby league international Ross Peltier could soon be swapping the field for the podium, having been selected as the Green Party’s candidate for the forthcoming Batley and Spen by-election.

Previous MP Tracy Brabin has recently become the Mayor of West Yorkshire, so an election in her constituency now needs to go ahead.

The 29-year-old, who has previously played for Bradford and who now stars for Doncaster, is a Jamaican international who moved to Cleckheaton to raise his family a few years ago.

“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 a relatable to them,” Peltier told BBC News.

“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.”