Exclusive:A64 dualling: senior Tory MP calls for more action from York and North Yorkshire Mayor

The Labour mayor hit back saying that despite 14 years in power the Conservatives still could not deliver the upgrades.

Campaigners have been calling for the single-lane road, between York and Scarborough, to be upgraded for years, yet despite warm words from national politicians little progress has been made.

As Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, also the MP for Richmond and Northallerton, said the possibility of dualling the A64 was “under consideration”, yet no timeline for a decision was given.

While in opposition, Sir Keir Starmer told The Yorkshire Post that he would need to look at “details of the A64 but we would support major road building projects”.

Ahead of his election in May last year, Mr Skaith said of the A64: “We don't need words, we need investment, and action and people getting on with stuff.”

Yet in the intervening 10 months, Mr Hollinrake claims little action has been taken.

In October, a cross-party group of North Yorkshire MPs, including Tom Gordon and Sir Alec Shelbrooke wrote to the mayor asking him to press the Government for support.

Now Mr Hollinrake has claimed that Mr Skaith only wrote to the Roads Minister, Lilian Greenwood, about the A64 after the MP had submitted a Freedom of Information (FoI) to the mayor’s office in January.

He said: “During the election campaign, David Skaith claimed transport was the biggest issue he wanted to solve.

“Yet, almost a year into the job, there’s still no clear plan to address the region’s most pressing transport problem: the A64 bottleneck.

“The mayor hadn’t even written to the Roads Minister about the issue until after I submitted a Freedom of Information request.

“While he claims to support road improvements, it’s obvious he prefers bus and rail solutions – without being honest with me or the public about where he stands on the A64.

“He just doesn’t understand the needs of residents, business and healthcare, all of whom are frustrated and constrained by the A64 bottleneck.”

Mr Skaith told The Yorkshire Post he had raised the issue informally with senior Government figures, including the then-Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, ahead of Mr Hollinrake’s FoI.

He said: “The Conservatives were in charge for 14 years, Kevin Hollinrake was an MP for the majority of that time in our patch, they also had North Yorkshire Council for a very long time, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for two years is also an MP in our patch, and they couldn’t get it delivered.

“So I’m not sure why we, in 10 months, should have got it delivered, when they couldn’t in 14 years.

“We do prioritise bus and rail over road because that’s what we have powers over.

“We have raised formally and informally the dualling of the A64 with the Government.

“If we did get the money to do it then obviously we would go ahead with it.”