New Roles For East Riding Chiefs

The members of the Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority (HEYCA) Executive Board have been allocated new portfolio roles.

As well as his Mayoral duties, Luke Campbell has taken on the ‘Fit and Healthy’ portfolio.

In addition to the Mayor himself, the Combined Authority’s Executive Board also consists of two members from Hull City Council and East Riding Council respectively. Each of the board members have been allocated a portfolio and set of responsibilities for the 2025/26 municipal year.

At a meeting of the Combined Authority’s Executive Board held on Friday, board members were allocated portfolio responsibilities. In the same way as each member Keir Starmer’s Cabinet has responsibilities over a certain topic, Wes Streeting as Health Secretary for example, each of the members of the Executive Board will have responsibilities over a certain issue.

It perhaps goes without saying but as Mayor, Luke Campbell has taken on the Mayor’s Portfolio. The Mayor’s Portfolio includes countless high-stakes responsibilities including leading the Combined Authority as a whole and promoting a positive image for the Hull and East Yorkshire Region.

As Mayor, Mr Campbell’s responsibilities see him leading political engagement with the likes of the Government, other regional Mayors, local MPs, and international investors. The portfolio responsibilities also state Mr Campbell must uphold “the highest standards of transparency, integrity and accountability.”

The Mayor’s role also includes collaborating with the other portfolio holders as well as the two constituent councils (Hull City Council and East Riding Council). He must also provide regular updates to the board on organisational performance.

In addition to his Mayoral responsibilities, Mr Campbell has also been handed the Fit and Healthy Portfolio. This sees the Mayor taking on responsibilities including working with the likes of local businesses, the NHS, and councils to improve health and wellbeing. It also sees the Mayor championing the role of sport in the region.

That is nothing new for Mr Campbell, who before being elected as the Mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire, was an Olympic gold medallist boxer. Boxing was in fact a large part of Mr Campbell’s election campaign. He was revealed as Reform UK’s candidate for the election in a boxing ring and he even met up with the party’s leader, Nigel Farage, in a boxing club in the city not long before the May 1 vote.

As a part of the Fit and Healthy role, Mr Campbell will also work alongside a number of Government Departments. He will work with the Department for Health and Social Care (and the NHS) to set a “shared strategic direction of health reforms,” and he will work alongside the Department of Work and Pensions to tackle economic inactivity.

The leader of East Riding Council, Cllr Anne Handley has taken on the Investment Portfolio. As a part of this role, Cllr Handley will lead the development of the Combined Authority’s economic policy.

Cllr Handley will “champion the region and the role of investment in driving growth, improving productivity and spreading opportunity across Hull and East Yorkshire.” She will also lead the political engagement in working with the likes of Government’s Department for Business and Trade, the Humber Freeport Board, and the British Business Bank.

Transport is a key part of any Combined Authority’s role in their respective region and often becomes what the establishments are best known for. In Hull and East Yorkshire, the deputy leader of East Riding Council, Cllr David Tucker will be responsible for making the region better connected.

Cllr Tucker will look to develop plans to improve bus services in the region as well as advancing the region’s transport priorities such as as rail electrification. The portfolio also includes overseeing the deployment of funding to boost electric vehicle infrastructure.