'Ignore arrogant Westminster view of local elections, they matter in their own right,' IPPR North says

On the south bank of the Humber, a first mayor will be elected to cover Greater Lincolnshire, who will work closely with whoever wins on the north bank.

Zoë Billingham, director of the Institute for Public Policy Research North, urged people “to get out and vote as it’s really important”.

“My very strong message is that these elections matter in their own right,” she told The Yorkshire Post.

“I think there’s a lot of arrogance in Westminster that local and regional elections matter because they’re a litmus test for national elections.

“Whereas increasingly, especially with devolution, who these local and regional leaders are really matters.”

In Hull and East Yorkshire, the mayor will act as a figurehead on the national stage, and receive powers covering transport, housing and skills.

It will mean the whole of Yorkshire and the Humber is covered by devolution deals, giving more power to local politicians.

In Doncaster, the mayor will have a huge project to get over the line in the proposed reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

And Ms Billingham explained that the Government is likely to "ratchet up powers” being devolved to mayors and local authorities.

“This is the beginning of a devolution journey for these places,” she added, “but who gets it, their relationship to the government and their ability to reflect local priorities has to be the foremost concern.”

It comes as VPI, the company behind electricity and steam generation for the Humber’s two large oil refineries, said it hoped to “count on” the support of mayors of both banks of the Energy Estuary in securing carbon capture and storage investment from the Government.

The Viking CCS scheme would see carbon dioxide emissions taken from Immingham 34 miles to Theddlethorpe in the Lincolnshire coast, where they would be transported into huge tanks beneath the North Sea.

Earlier this month, the Planning Inspectorate confirmed permission to build the pipeline - a major step forward in the multi-billion pound project.

Businesses say they have £15bn ready to invest in the Humber if the Government provides adequate support to get CCS off the ground.

A final decision is expected to be made in the Government’s spending review this summer, where Chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out departmental budgets for the coming years.

VPI is proposing to spend £1.5bn on removing carbon dioxide from its Immingham plant.

A spokesperson said: “We look forward to working with the new mayors in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire.

“We count on their support to help make the case to government for our carbon capture and storage project in the Humber.

“If it goes ahead, it could include more than a billion pounds in private investment and 1,500 jobs for the region during its construction, as well as high value jobs afterwards.

“This is a once-in-a-generation economic opportunity, we should do all we can to take it.”