There have been fresh calls to create a mayor for North Yorkshire following the election of new councillors last week.

Henri Murison, director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, has written to each of the county’s 91 newly elected councillors urging them to back a devolution deal that includes the creation of a metro mayor.

Mr Murison, who went to school in Boroughbridge and Harrogate, said the move could unlock “a huge amount” of funding for the county, with the mayor responsible for allocating much of it.

He or she would assume control over areas such as transport and economic development for the whole of North Yorkshire. The mayoral office could also swallow up the role of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

Mr Murison’s letter, which has been shared with the Stray Ferret, said:

“The maximum powers and funding are only available for a devolution deal with a directly elected mayor. As the Tees Valley has proven, a large urban metropolitan area is not a prerequisite and the mayoral model can prove hugely successful in areas where the economic geography is dominated by towns.

“Locally-led economic growth strategies to raise productivity in areas such as these are vital. The North of Tyne Combined Authority shares much of its geography with the Borderlands Growth Deal, which included Carlisle, parts of Scotland and rural Northumberland – and these places are already reaping the benefits.”

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The government’s Levelling Up White Paper was published in February and cited the creation of strong, local mayors as a key part of its levelling up agenda.

It said the government would open up negotiations over a devolution deal, including a mayor, with leaders at North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council. However, a deal is yet to be signed off.

York council is run by the Liberal Democrats whereas NYCC is controlled by the Conservatives.

“Metro mayors are needed”

Labour’s Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester is often cited as an example of a mayor who has used his platform to win more funding from government and put a spotlight on the region.

Conservatives mayor for Tees Valley, Ben Houchen, has also built a strong reputation for making the most of his region’s devolution deal.

But others, like Bristol’s Labour mayor Marvin Rees, have been divisive. Bristol residents voted last week in a referendum to scrap the position from 2024.

Mr Murison added:

“Devolution is flourishing in some places (South Yorkshire has just elected its second Metro Mayor) while stalling in others. It is not right that Cumbria or North Yorkshire should miss out on empowered local leadership – nor the government funding which goes hand in hand with it.

“Metro mayors are needed for cities, towns, and rural areas alike if we are serious about building a truly productive, prosperous Northern Powerhouse.”

Harrogate Borough Council has been roundly criticised for spending £700 on a social media influencer whose posts about the town received little attention.

The Stray Ferret reported yesterday that the council paid Bristol travel blogger Heather Cowper to praise its new Harrogate Christmas Fayre.

But her post about it on Facebook received just two likes, which included one from the council itself. Her post on Twitter generated no likes but a series of posts on Instagram performed better, generating up to 65 likes.

Liberal Democrat councillor for New Park, Matthew Webber, who sits on the council’s audit and governance committee that scrutinises council spending, told the Stray Ferret he was “appalled by this waste of money”. He added:

“I would have thought it was possible to arrange to pay social influencers by their results and clearly this time the results were extremely disappointing.”

Cllr Matthew Webber

Cllr Webber said the council should have used local residents to promote the town instead.

“It probably received less likes on the various social media platforms than we could have got from just posting a similar article ourselves or other local residents who have social media profiles.”

‘I’d have done it for free’

Mary Beggs-Reid is a Harrogate resident who runs a Christmas page on Facebook that has over 500,000 members. She told the Stray Ferret she would have promoted the Christmas Fayre on the page for the council for free.

Ms Beggs-Reid, who found fame for starting the Christmas jingle, said she posted a video of Knaresborough market traders in the group that received 14,000 views in an hour.

“I’d do anything for my town. I’d have done it for free.

“But they’ve paid an out-of-towner to promote us. The council don’t look into what’s going on in our town”.

Mary Beggs-Reid

‘Online vanity project’

The £700 spend was also criticised by the national group Taxpayers’ Alliance, which campaigns for a low tax society.

Harry Fone, its grassroots campaign manager, said:

“Taxpayers will be absolutely livid at this terrible waste of money.

“The council should be ashamed that it has spent public cash so poorly.

“In future, town hall bosses should focus on frontline services rather than online vanity projects.”

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It wasn’t all criticism, however. One reader contacted the Stray Ferret to say the article was unfair as Facebook is not Heather on her Travel’s primary channel.

The reader said Ms Cowper’s posts about Harrogate had performed better on Instagram although she added she wasn’t suggesting it was good value.

Destination Harrogate

The decision to use a social media influencer to promote the town was made by Destination Harrogate, the council’s tourism body.

The organisation is headed up by Gemma Rio who was appointed in September 2020. A job advert from when before Ms Rio was appointed advertised the role for a salary of around £60,000 a year.

The Stray Ferret has requested an interview with Ms Rio on three separate occasions. These have all been refused.

Gemma Rio

‘Digital landscape has changed’

The council sent a pre-written statement from Ms Rio in response to our story yesterday.

“The digital landscape has changed significantly in the last few years with around 80% of adults (53 million) using social media daily, with the average user spending almost two hours on these platforms.

“Like many other destination management organisations – as well as most businesses – Destination Harrogate is keen to capitalise on this incredibly effective marketing tool to target specific audiences, especially around the tourism and travel sector.

“Heather Cowper was chosen as she regularly appears on the lists of top 100 travel blogs worldwide and has established herself as one of the best traveller bloggers. Regularly receiving thousands of views every month on her videos, photos, podcasts and blogs.

“Heather’s content is also incredibly well written – having spent many years sharing her own travel experiences and insights – and also attracts our target demographic.

“The joy of using social media as a marketing tool is that it is often more cost-effective and engaging than traditional advertising, as we can utilise photography and video as well as words. All adverts and promotions can also be evaluated extensively; whether that’s reach and engagement or driving traffic to our website, for example.

“We can also continue to adapt and tailor our approach to future campaigns, attract new visitors, as well as understand the behaviours of our target demographic to ensure a return on our investment.

“Social media advertising and the use of influencers to increase brand awareness looks like it will continue to be one of the most beneficial marketing tools. We’re keen to continue using it to showcase what the Harrogate district has to offer and stand out amongst competitor destinations.”