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05
May
One year on: What has Labour's David Skaith achieved as mayor?
It was 12 months ago that York and North Yorkshire elected its first ever mayor.
In a hall at Harrogate Convention Centre on a Friday afternoon, Labour’s David Skaith became the unlikely first person to take up the position and head up the newly created York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.
Mr Skaith, a men’s clothing shop owner who grew up in Harrogate, went from selling jackets and jeans on York’s High Street to being in charge of a mayoral investment fund worth £540 million over the next three decades.
In an interview to mark the end of his first year in charge, the Stray Ferret asked Mr Skaith about what he felt he had achieved in post.
Election victory
Following the conclusion of the general election in July 2024, Mr Skaith was set to work as the first mayor of the region.
Much of his campaign centred around introducing a high street fund to help retailers across North Yorkshire.
Mr Skaith told the Stray Ferret that this pledge was delivered early on in his tenure.
He said:
Getting that investment out of the door in the next couple of weeks has been an exciting opportunity. Not just because that’s investment that the region would not have had before, but being a mayor that has been on the high street and being a retailer, I identified that as something that I would like to see that investment come into effect.
Much of the Labour mayor's announcements have seen him spread money around various different sectors, such as £10 million for a high street fund, £5 million for Net Zero projects and £2.5 million for skills.
David Skaith was elected the first Mayor of York and North Yorkshire on May 3 last year.
However, the grand political statements — such as buying an airport or announcing a major transport project — have been few and far between.
‘The easiest place to be is in opposition’
Mr Skaith is also not immune from criticism that comes with holding a high-profile political role.
He came under fire in March this year after saying he would rather prioritise public transport than campaign for the A64 to be dualled.
The Labour mayor had previously backed calls for improvements to the road on the election trail.
This led to senior Conservatives, such as Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake and Chris Steward, who leads City of York Council's Conservative group, to claim Mr Skaith had not been “honest” during the election campaign.
Meanwhile, Cllr Arnold Warneken, Green Party councillor for Ouseburn on North Yorkshire Council, told the Stray Ferret that the A64 dualling was an example of where Mr Skaith has “not delivered”.
Mayor David Skaith with the new combined authority logo, which drew criticism.
He also came under fire for spending £31,360 on a combined authority rebranding exercise, which Cllr Keane Duncan, Conservative executive councillor for highways at North Yorkshire Council, described as a waste of money and questioned why it did not include a traditional Yorkshire white rose.
In response to the criticism that he’s faced, Mr Skaith told the Stray Ferret that handling it was part of the job of being mayor.
He said:
You're always going to get criticism. It’s the easiest place to be, is being in opposition. But we have a very good relationship with York and North Yorkshire [councils] and it is very much about place first, and putting the politics to one side.
York and North Yorkshire and members on the combined authority understand that this is about driving economic growth. So when we are having these conversations, the politics does get put to one side and it’s very much about the place and that collective working is how we are going to see that work.
Three years left
Despite Mr Skaith being coy on using his powers for major projects, he does have goals that he wants to achieve for the three years that are left of his term.
He told the Stray Ferret that the combined authority wants to go down the bus franchising route, which would see it take greater control over services in a specific area or on specific routes.
David Skaith, pictured in Ripon.
The Labour mayor also holds regular calls with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other ministers in government.
He said he is in “ongoing conversations” with government over taking on further powers.
But what exactly does he want to achieve in the next three years?
Mr Skaith said much of his aims will be centred around people, in particular bringing in investment so that younger people want to stay in York and North Yorkshire and not leave for other areas.
He said:
I came into it emphasising the importance of putting people first and creating healthy, thriving communities. I think so much of when we talk about growth is around bringing that big-scale investment, which is really important.
But we know that we have a lot of young people who leave our region because they do not see opportunities here and do not have the affordability of housing, or transport is not working for them.
Three years is a long time in politics. Whether Mr Skaith has done enough on his investment and transport priorities in that time to earn himself another mayoral term will be for voters in 2028 to decide.
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