The Mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire has said he is “all for creating jobs in any sector” and proclaimed: “Who doesn’t like cleaner air and green energy?”
His comments came at a meeting of the Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority’s (HEYCA) Overview and Scrutiny Committee where Labour councillor Shane McMurray, who represents the Central ward on Hull City Council, sought clarity on Luke Campbell’s views on renewables which some have claimed don’t easily align with those of his party, Reform UK.
In the months following his election as Mayor, the former boxer’s opinions on the green energy sector have been a topic of much discussion. The intrigue into Mr Campbell’s renewables stance is rooted in a perceived conflict between the interests and aims of the Combined Authority, which he heads, and that of his party. While one of HEYCA’s four “principles”, as stated on the authority’s website, is to “deliver a sustainable future,” Mr Campbell’s party has committed to scrapping Net Zero policies on a national level.
Since being elected in May, Mr Campbell has openly supported parts of the region’s renewables sector, such as visiting and offering support to Vivergo Fuels, the crisis-hit bioethanol company that was described by its managing director, Ben Hackett, as being the “foundation on which the UK’s green industrial growth strategy can be built”.
In addition to this support, Mr Campbell said he was “delighted” after the Combined Authority secured £700,000 from the government’s Mayoral Renewables Fund. This money will fund renewables projects to reduce Hull City Council’s and East Riding Council’s energy costs over the next 25 years by installing solar panels on buildings at various sites.
Despite this support, Mr Campbell later warned renewable energy firms to act “at your own risk” in response to a letter Reform UK’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, sent to energy firms stating that a government run by the party would “reassess all net zero-related commitments”. When a member of the public asked Mr Campbell’s views on the letter, the Mayor said: “I don’t have any solutions. I’m not an expert on green energy.”
In a bid to attain clarity on the Mayor’s stance on renewable energy, Cllr McMurray told Mr Campbell that, in the region, “there’s a lot of green jobs, we don’t have any oil refineries or oil fields in this region”. He added: “If people are going to benefit directly from energy jobs, it’s going to be green energy jobs.”
The Labour councillor asked:
“I know you’ve said some positive things about this and your party has said some things that are seemingly negative, so is there anything you can say now to give reassurance to people who work at Siemens, who want to get a career in wind farms, and jobs like that?”
Mr Campbell said:
“The Mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire should stand for the people, it was the people that elected Luke Campbell into place to I’ll stand up and represent them the best I can, and if that’s creating jobs in any sector I’m all for it.
Who doesn’t like cleaner air and green energy? I do and I’m all for that.”
Cllr McMurray said the Mayor’s response
“will give a lot of reassurance to a lot of workers and a lot of people who want to work in the industry in this region”.
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