Elections are a constant part of life, much like taxes. Someone will often be voting for something at least once every few years. This year sees local elections across the UK as voters go to the polls to elect councillors, police and crime commissioners and mayors.
Mayoral election in North Yorkshire
For the people of North Yorkshire, however, this year’s local elections will be quite different, as for the first time they will have a chance to elect a mayor for the region. The new mayor will have extensive powers over the whole region and will have the opportunity to put North Yorkshire even more firmly on the map than in past years. The area saw a dramatic by-election last year in which Labour took a traditional parliamentary seat, Selby and Ainsty, from the Conservatives. Could this mayoral election feature the same level of drama?
The Liberal Democrats certainly hope so. They have scored several by-election victories over the past few years, helping to rebuild the party’s cohort of MPs, which significantly dropped in 2015 after their period in the coalition government. In the nearly 10 years since then, the party has gone through a series of reinventions and seems to be picking up momentum in different parts of the country.
York has, at a parliamentary and council level, seen close fought competitions between Labour and the Liberal Democrats but could the party have a chance to take the York and North Yorkshire mayoralty out of the hands of both Labour and Conservatives?
I recently spoke to Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, the Liberal Democrats candidate in the mayoral election to gauge her thoughts on the campaign and find out what her priorities would be if she were elected mayor.
The Liberal Democrat’s candidate – meeting Felicity Cunliffe-Lister
I started my interview with Cunliffe-Lister by asking her why she wanted to stand as the Liberal Democrat candidate in this election.
“I decided to stand because the election of a mayor creates a unique opportunity for York and North Yorkshire,” she explained. “The region has a winning combination of innovative enterprise, a strong research sector, heritage, culture and natural capital, and I want to be the person to help it achieve its full potential. I want to generate sustainable economic growth, achieve our net zero goals, and improve the health and wellbeing of all who live here.”
What then did she think were the main issues facing the region in this election and more generally?
“That’s quite difficult to answer as many of the electorate don’t know there is an election happening and, if they do, they might not fully grasp the significance of what the role can deliver,” she said.
“From conversations I have had, the issues that are most commonly raised are public transport and lack of housing, and then the cost-of-living crisis and – for businesses – energy bills and the skills shortage. There is also the sense that the region has been left behind, that it needs better representation and that it is time for a change.”
Why choose her over the other candidates?
I then asked what distinguished Cunliffe-Lister from the other candidates standing. She argued that her experience working as a commercial property lawyer in the City of London prior to moving to North Yorkshire, combined with the experience of running Swinton Park, gave her an insight into what businesses needed and how best to ensure that the economic prosperity of the area was invigorated. Swinton Park was bought by Cunliffe-Lister and her husband 24 years ago, when it was derelict, although it had formerly been owned by her husband’s family several decades earlier.
“It’s important to note that I am not a career politician, I am a politician with a career and I have entered politics for the right reasons,” she emphasised. “I want to use my skills and experience to deliver the best for the region.”
The economy and second homes
I moved on to asking Cunliffe-Lister what she saw as being the central economic issues for the region – what emphasis would she place on the economy and how would she seek to bolster it if she were to be elected mayor?
“There are three elements to that,” she began: “I want the region to be at the forefront of the Green Revolution, capitalising on our natural assets to generate renewable energy; I want growth to be environmentally sustainable, from the way we build our houses, to the way we travel and operate our businesses; and I want economic growth to help sustain our communities, support the voluntary sector and delivering prosperity to invest back into the community.”
Given the importance of housing, I wondered how her manifesto commitment to address the imbalance between second homes and permanent homes would factor in and impact the economy?
“On a financial level, I want to ensure that both the council tax premium that will be charged to second home owners and the additional business rates now due to be paid by holiday let owners are invested in the communities that are most impacted by this type of property ownership. My objective is for this to enable services such as the school, pub or shop to remain viable.”
Cunliffe-Lister added, “in terms of addressing imbalance, I would consider a number of options to help control the growth of this market. These would include a planning requirement for change of use, a community-led quota that would set a limit on the number of homes that are not permanently occupied (which would influence planning policy and housing building targets), and licensing/regulation of the commercial operators.”
The importance of communities and schools
The importance of improving communities both in terms of access to basic services like schools and transport links and in improving how safe people feel in their communities is an issue that is as crucial to the people of North Yorkshire as it is to people across the rest of the country.
Given the fear that many people have of crime, and national concerns about reoffending rates, I asked Cunliffe-Lister what her plans would be to utilise the government’s Community Payback scheme more effectively than she felt it had currently been. The scheme is designed to help offenders be rehabilitate into their communities whilst also providing a form of restitution to the community they have harmed.
She explained that she would not only ensure that it worked to keep streets clean and improve paintwork, and help with litter picking across the region, but also help bring reoffending rates down.
Sport facilities for children, allotments for all
I moved on to asking about her manifesto commitment to provided subsidised sports access to children, alongside establishing allotments on redundant ground, ensuring schools meals are nutritious and subsidising breakfast clubs for children in deprived areas. How much impact would she think these measures have on children across the region and how much would they cost?
“In terms of impact,” Cunliffe-Lister began, “enabling children to play more sport will improve their mental health, reduce obesity levels and the health risks associated, and improve their wellness and their learning outcomes.”
“Allotment schemes enable adults and children to spend time outside, reconnect with nature, create community connections and to enjoy fresh nutritious food. Improving school food so that it is nutritious and balanced enables children to thrive, learn and make the right dietary choices in life; breakfast clubs are essential for those most in need – providing them with the sustenance they need for the day.”
Cunliffe-Lister went on to explain that “this scheme is not costed, to the extent that it will be sourced both from the Mayor’s Local Priority Fund and public/private finance. It cannot be overstated how important this element of the role is – using the mayoral fund to raise further finance in terms of match or seed funding – alongside the ability of the mayor to access further central government funding.”
Tackling Yorkshire Water
I finished my interview with Cunliffe-Lister by asking her about Yorkshire Water and how she would make sure, in line with her manifesto, that it wouldn’t be let off the hook. Yorkshire Water and other water companies across the country have come under increased pressure in the past few years over the levels of sewage they have been allegedly pumping into bodies of water, like rivers and lakes, which ends up contaminating them.
Cunliffe-Lister stated that her pledge meant “I will continue to hold them to account for the underinvestment that is now impacting the region, and lobby Westminster to ensure that there are further measures implemented to ensure that the water companies maintain higher levels of investment and reduce sewage spills in the future.”
“I will pressure Yorkshire Water to accelerate their current investment programme”, she said, “to make their systems more resilient to flooding, to reduce the sewage spills into our rivers and sea. At the same time, my natural flood management scheme will reduce flooding, which will help prevent the sewage systems being inundated – so it will be beneficiaries of this scheme, such as insurance funds and Yorkshire Water, that will be asked to contribute to the costs of it”.
Felicity Cunliffe-Lister certainly comes across as a determined candidate. However, it will be up to the voters of York and North Yorkshire to decide if she is the person they want representing them as the first elected mayor of the region.
Regardless of who you intend to vote for, make sure to make your voice heard by voting on 2 May.
