Reform hopes political novice will knock out experienced operators in Hull and East Yorkshire
In just under a month’s time, Reform UK could be about to cap a remarkable 12 months in politics.
In April 2024, Nigel Farage still appeared unlikely to make a comeback to frontline politics and Lee Anderson had just defected from the Conservatives.
Now, the party is topping some opinion polls, with four seats in the House of Commons and the godfather of Brexit is the party leader.
And on 1 May, Reform will be hoping to cap off a successful year by winning the party’s first metro mayor in Hull and East Yorkshire.
The candidate hoping to complete Yorkshire’s map of metro mayors is former Olympic boxing gold medallist Luke Campbell.
The 37-year-old is very frank that he’s not really a politician, and doesn’t have a long career in politics.
In our extensive interview, he keeps telling me “I’m one of the people”.
He’s up against the East Riding of Yorkshire Council leader, Tory Coun Anne Handley, Hull City Council leader, Lib Dem Coun Mike Ross, and Labour’s Margaret Pinder, who has previously been a general election candidate.
“I want to stand up and fight for what the people want,” Mr Campbell says.
“That is the only reason why I’ve put my neck on the line and put myself out there to try and do good in the community.”
Reform UK will hope that Mr Campbell can harness his fame and appeal to voters who are fed up with the current crop of politicians.
He says: “I think I’m the same as the majority of people on the street all saying the same thing, we all know we need a change.
“We all know we are heading in a bad direction.”
- Mike Ross (Liberal Democrats)
- Margaret Pinder (Labour)
- Kerry Harrison (Green Party)
- Anne Handley (Conservative Party)
- Rowan Halstead (Yorkshire Party)
- Luke Campbell (Reform UK)
But what change is Reform UK promising? Mr Campbell says his priority is to try and crack down on “council waste”.
He names £20m spent on Queens Gardens and £45,000 security costs for the BHS Building while the council waits for a developer.
“Listen, I’m not in the know yet - if I get elected I’ll be able to say more than I’m saying so far,” he says.
In our interview, he did not mention any policies on transport or infrastructure - two of the main areas of responsibility for the new mayor.
On other subjects he is refreshingly honest in not having an answer.
I ask him about the potential government funding for carbon capture, utilisation and storage in the region, which businesses say will unlock £15bn of additional investment.
Reform UK wants to scrap net zero - which would surely kibosh the project - and tax renewables.
Mr Campbell says he has a meeting next week on this, and that he is “interested to learn more about it”.
The question for voters is do they put their faith in a political novice - like Mr Campbell - or trust some of the most-experienced politicians on the ballot?