When asked what he thought of Mr Campbell, one man responded ‘is that a type of soup?’
The people of Hull and East Yorkshire have shared their thoughts on Luke Campbell‘s first six months as the region’s Mayor. We spoke to residents in both Hull and Beverley to gauge the public’s opinion.
The former Olympic gold medallist boxer has now been in office as the Mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire for over half a year, having been elected in May. Having stood as the Reform UK candidate in the election, the Hull-born athlete turned-businessman beat the leaders of both East Riding Council and Hull City Council, amongst others, when elected as Mayor.
To mark his six month anniversary, we decided to ask the people of the region what they have thought of Mr Campbell’s time in office so far, and crucially, ask what people actually know about what the Mayor has been up to since being elected in May. In an attempt to get a broad range of voices we spoke to the residents of both Hull City Council and East Riding Council, which are the two councils that make up the Combined Authority that Mr Campbell heads.
Despite one man, who when asked what he thought of Luke Campbell responded “is that a type of soup?”, it was reassuring to see that almost everyone we spoke to was fully aware of who Mr Campbell was and knew he had been elected as Mayor. However, apart from being elected as Mayor, few people could say much more about what Mr Campbell has been up to in the last six months.
First we spoke to Dave and Steve outside the Prospect Centre in Hull. Both said they had not heard much about what the Mayor has been up to since May. However, Dave had read up on the perceived conflict between the interests and ambitions of Mr Campbell’s political party, Reform UK and that of the region when it comes to green energy.
Also in Hull city centre we spoke to Lesley Abbey and Ann Pickett. Lesley felt as if Mr Campbell was elected more on sentiment than on political merit, stating: “I like the bloke but he’s not a politician. I’m not sure he’ll be good enough.” Both wished the Mayor well and felt his “heart is in it” but were unsure of his credentials.
A number of people, including Lesley were encouraged by his relatively young age and felt this could be an advantage. Whilst many Mayors up and down the country are well into their fifties or above, Mr Campbell is quite a bit younger at 38.
Chris and Christine Greasby, were not aware of what Mr Campbell had been up to but said “no news is good news” with hopes that the Mayor is working behind the scenes whilst avoiding any major crises. Although Chris did admit the Mayor’s first six months had been “not Earth shattering.”
In Beverley, Jean Wright and Kevin Bulless were in a similar situation to those in Hull as they were, as Jean said “unaware of what he’s done.” However Jean added that they shouldn’t be overly critical as they didn’t “know what he was promising to do,” and were confident things are “still in progress” as Mr Campbell is the region’s first Mayor and is leading an infant authority.
Also in Beverley, Trevor and Lyn had similar views to Lesley in Hull. Trevor said Mr Campbell is “a nice guy and a good boxer but this is a big job and you need experience.”
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