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25
May
Mayor Watch: Labour leadership, pothole funding row and local elections
Each month, the Stray Ferret analyses the activity of the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith, and his deputy mayor for policing, Jo Coles.
We look at their decisions, their public and online presence and their use of money by both politicians.
In May, the pothole funding row between Mayor Skaith and the Conservative-run North Yorkshire Council continued.
Meanwhile, after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faced calls to resign after a disastrous local elections result, Mr Skaith claimed Britain was “in a mess”.
Here is what else we found after analysing their online presence.
David Skaith
David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire
What did he do?
On May 5, Mr Skaith spoke with the Stray Ferret as part of an interview to commemorate his two years in post.
The Labour mayor spoke about Labour’s leadership, his row with North Yorkshire Council over pothole funding and whether he was enjoying the cut and thrust of politics.
On May 7, he joined York City FC as they embarked on a victory parade around the city following their promotion to the English Football League.
The following day, Mr Skaith released a statement after Labour suffered a bad night nationally at the local elections which prompted calls for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to resign.
He said he was “incredibly worried” for town and cities who had elected representatives from “dysfunctional, divisive and dangerous party” in Reform UK.
Mr Skaith added that the country was “a mess” and there was “no getting round that”.
On May 13, the Labour mayor defended a funding decision about road repairs amid claims the move was an “attack on rural North Yorkshire”.
Mayor Skaith released a statement after fresh criticism from senior Tory councillors on North Yorkshire Council described the move as “frankly outrageous” and reiterated calls for him to reconsider his decision.
Mr Skaith said North Yorkshire Conservatives had let the region down and that the decision represented “record investment” in the county’s roads.
On the same day, he welcomed a tourist tax being included in the King's Speech and described it as a "total game changer".
David Skaith and Rachel Reeves at UKREiiF 2026.
Meanwhile, Mr Skaith attended the UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum in Leeds, which was held from May 18 to 20.
While at the event, he met with Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves, who he said was delivering "real actions" to support people in the cost-of-living crisis.
What decisions did he make?
On May 11, Mr Skaith opened the third round of export funding for potential applicants. The scheme, called Get Exporting, offers grants of between £3,000 and £10,000 to drive sales of their products or services across the world.
Meanwhile, the mayor also granted 39 schemes share of funding from a £4 million active travel fund.
Among the projects was plans for a new pump track in Pateley Bridge, which was awarded £65,847 in funding.
What else?
The Stray Ferret asked the combined authority if it had anything further it wished to add to Mr Skaith’s activity.
In a statement, the mayor said:
When it comes to backing business in York and North Yorkshire, there’s nothing like getting in the thick of it and meeting the investors. This week, I’ve been at UKREiiF in Leeds, one of the biggest inward investment conventions in the UK.
With 16,000 investors at the event, we hit the ground running, launching our Investment Pitchbook on day one in our dedicated York and North Yorkshire pavilion. Our Pitchbook showcases the scope of investable opportunities in the region, such as York Central, as well as the incredible talent we have in York and North Yorkshire. It’s our people who will build the confidence in investors and innovators to bring jobs and growth to our region.
While UKREiiF is all about attracting outside investment into our region, I’m also really pleased to announce a huge boost to our Get Exporting programme.
The fund, which is open for applications, now stands at £900,000. So far, we’ve supported 70 businesses who are exporting our region’s products all around the world. With the potential to unlock £65 million in trade, let’s keep the momentum going and really get York and North Yorkshire businesses going global.
Growth means nothing if we’re losing the people and the talent who provide the foundation for that growth. Working families have struggled for too long with unaffordable homes and rents in our region. Earlier this month, York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority approved its Housing Growth Strategy. This ambitious plan will support the delivery of 60,000 new homes across the region, including 25,000 affordable properties.
The next decade will see us collaborating with local authorities, developers and housing associations to achieve these goals and deliver the quality affordable homes people need.
Jo Coles, deputy mayor for police, fire and crime.
Jo Coles, Deputy Mayor of York and North Yorkshire
What did she do?
On May 5, the mayor and deputy mayor announced a consultation would take place into the future of police and fire service buildings in Malton.
Ms Coles said the consultation sought views on a a potential new joint police and fire station for the town.
Meanwhile, on May 7, Ms Coles published an open letter on roads funding amid concern over Mr Skaith’s decision.
The letter, which was addressed to North Yorkshire Council’s transport scrutiny committee ahead of its discussion on the funding, sought to make the case for the funding move, in particular investment in speed cameras.
On May 21, Ms Coles held a public online meeting into rural and wildlife crime which included a police performance report and an in-depth discussion into the topic.
What decisions did she make?
Ms Coles took the decision on May 5 to formally launch a consultation into Malton’s police and fire service buildings.
She made no other formal decisions in May, according to the Office for Policing, Fire and Crime transparency details.
What else?
On the Office for Policing, Fire, Crime and Commissioning website, personal expenses for Ms Coles are published monthly.
Ms Coles made no personal expenses claims for April. The most recent data available is for March, which you can read about here.
However, the deputy mayor claimed 346 miles in mileage in April which included events in Whitby, Scarborough, Filey, Wakefield, Ripon and Boroughbridge.
She also had meetings in Selby and York and a filming engagement in Malton.
The Stray Ferret approached York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority to ask if it had anything further it wished to add to Ms Coles’ activity.
In a statement, the deputy mayor said:
Maximising the investment, we can put into early intervention and prevention is a top priority for the Mayor and I. Over the last month, I've met with some of the organisations benefiting from the doubling of our community fund, as well as others who've received investment from the Mayor's movement activity and sport fund.
I've also presented two sets of Good Citizen Awards to children and young people from across the region at St Nicks and York College. The future feels extremely bright with all the talented and determined young people in our region I've met over the last few weeks.
Keeping people safe is an imperative for all our emergency services. HMICFRS published the results of their latest inspection into North Yorkshire Police. At a Prevent Champions event organised by North Yorkshire Council and the Regional Counter Terrorism Policing Team in Easingwold it was an opportunity to thank those people in our schools, the two local authorities, voluntary and community sector and emergency services for everything they're doing to keep people safe in our region.
On behalf of the Combined Authority, I have also ensured York and North Yorkshire submitted evidence to the DEFRA select committee call for evidence on wildfires. There is so much learning coming out of the Langdale / Fylingdales fire last year, and there's an urgent need for increased focus on the prevention of future fires, as well as the wider recovery from the incident last year.
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