Government minister front runner to be North Yorkshire Mayor

Kevin Hollinrake, the business minister and local MP, is understood to be considering a tilt at the job once nominations open later this year as expected.

Though the MP for Thirsk and Malton is said to be enjoying his work in Government, he is considering the role after being urged to by Conservative colleagues.

One fellow Northern Tory MP said: “Everyone is hoping that it’ll be Kevin. He’s such a major asset to York and North Yorkshire: sensible, straight-forward, and uniquely understands both business and Westminster so can get things done for our county.

“He’ll also bring immediate gravitas to the role, cementing the position and bringing immediate action on behalf of people across our county.

“The last thing we need is a novice or someone learning on the job.”

Last week Mr Holinrake was reselected by his constituency association to fight the next election, after announcing that he intended to stand for the Conservatives again last year.

Other rumoured names for the job include Robert Goodwill, the Tory chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, as well as Andrew Jones, the MP for Harrogate who faces holding off the Liberal Democrats at the next election.

However both men told The Yorkshire Post that they will not be putting their names forward.

Last night Zoë Metcalfe, North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner confirmed that she will be putting her name forward for selection.

It is understood that the Labour Party will field a candidate for the seat although a timetable has yet to be confirmed.

North Yorkshire is by far a Conservative-dominated region, with the Tories holding every seat in the county, including that of the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.

Labour’s Rachael Maskell meanwhile is the Member of Parliament for York Central.

If Mr Hollinrake were to vacate his seat, his seat would be up for grabs for the next election, expected in 2024, along that of the Selby-MP and Boris Johnson ally, Nigel Adams.

Names talked up for the Tory safe seat include Ben Houchen, the Tees Valley Mayor and Sebastian Payne, the Gateshead-born director of the Onward think tank and author of the book “Broken Heartlands” which covered Labour’s fall in the “Red Wall”.

However it is understood that Mr Houchen will not be standing for a parliamentary seat at the next election following rumours that he has been recommended for a peerage in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.

Mr Holinrake won his seat in 2015 after his predecessor Anne McIntosh was deselected by her local party. She then went on to become a peer and has sat in the House of Lords since October that year.

From 1 April the county council and seven district and borough councils will become North Yorkshire council after a devolution deal for the county and York was signed last year.

This will also see a directly-elected mayor with an election expected to be held in May 2024, thought also to be around the same time of the next general election.

Henri Murison, Chief Executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said: “Devolution is the linchpin that ties the whole Northern Powerhouse project together - it’s vital for delivering growth, while bringing power and accountability closer to communities.

“It is absolutely right that the people from great cities including York, towns like Selby and Settle, as well as its wider rural communities get their own empowered, accountable local champion - and the £540m that comes with them.

“This would be a game-changer for the city region, not least as it will allow us to make more of innovation assets such as York University in the bioeconomy, while using bespoke, co-ordinated place-based policies to tackle challenges in education, skills, and transport – which hold back places like Scarborough back.

“Metro Mayors are becoming more and more relevant to the future of how we are to be governed, especially now that both main parties – including Michael Gove, the current Chancellor and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown - have thrown their weight behind the devolution agenda wholeheartedly.”