A £1m fund set up by a Reform UK mayor to boost community projects has awarded cash to his son’s football team, The i Paper can reveal.
Former Olympic boxer Luke Campbell, 38, was elected as the first Mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire last May in one of the party’s most impressive results.
One of his first moves in the job was to set up a £1m community fund which he said he would use “to support projects that make a meaningful difference in our region”.
After almost eight months, five projects have been awarded cash from the taxpayer-funded pot, totalling £30,000.
They include £5,000 awarded to Hessle Rangers, a grassroots football club based in Campbell’s hometown of Hull.
The club is currently building a new clubhouse, and chairman, Mark Kelsey, said the money would go towards getting it fitted out.
But locals have pointed out that Hessle Rangers happens to be the club where one of Campbell’s three young sons is a player.
“So much for the transparency Reform will bring,” one resident complained. “Just more of the same.”
In a statement, Campbell’s office said he “recognises that, as a local resident, there may sometimes be potential conflicts of interest” but claimed that he “doesn’t decide which groups receive funding”.
In a video posted to Campbell’s personal Facebook page, which was shared with The i Paper, he was seen signing a cheque addressed to Hessle Rangers, describing the cash as having come from “my community fund”.
Former Olympic boxer Luke Campbell and Reform leader Nigel Farage in Hull (Photo: Ryan Jenkinson/Getty)The other projects to receive funding so far include; £5,000 to upgrade the kitchen facilities in Coniston village hall, £10,000 for Rewilding Youth CIC which runs nature programmes for young people, £5,000 for Ladled with Love to provide meals for those in need and £5,000 to improve facilities at Kingston amateur boxing club.
An insider close to the Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority said awarding the money to Hessle Rangers was “not the wisest of moves” and questioned the broader stratedy of Campbell’s fund.
“It’s nice politics to give money to these groups but in terms of the direction of the combined authority – driving economic growth, transport improvement – it really doesn’t fit with that,” the source said. “It’s not really achieving what the combined authority was set up for.”
This week, Nigel Farage chose Hull to launch his party’s local election campaign. Campbell appeared on stage with the Reform UK leader, who told the BBC he had been “thrown in at the deep end” during his first year in office and praised the Mayor for his “impeccable patience”.
Farage said: “He [Campbell] is reshaping local government, he’s reshaping his team, he’s managed to bring in quite significant amounts of investment, he’s holding business forums, he’s not shy.
“If we get Hull City Council into a different place where it’s more supportive of him, there’s more he can do.”
It is not the first time Campbell, 38, has received questions around his performance in the job. He had no previous political experience before being elected to the £72,00-a-year role.
There were reports last year that that multiple staff in his office resigned due to a “toxic” working environment, as well as claims that he incorrectly tried to claim first-class train tickets on expenses, which has been denied by Reform.
Insiders claimed that Campbell was frequently failing to turn up to meetings and leaving local leaders frustrated. One argued that there remains a “general impression that [Campbell] is not really putting the hours in”.
Campbell has received some criticism for political opponents and local residents in his new role (Photo: Danny Lawson/PA)The i Paper revealed in October how Campbell upset students with special education needs at Hull College after he failed to turn up for a lunch prepared for him during a visit. Campbell later claimed he had been pulled away by combined authority officers at short notice due to an “urgent matter”.
Hull council is currently controlled by the Lib Dems but a third of all councillors are up for election in May.
In campaign literature distributed ahead of the elections, Reform describes Campbell as a “local hero” who has “put your priorities first, including by launching his £1m community fund to support local projects”.
A spokesperson for his office said: “The community fund was set up to support grassroots groups and local initiatives that don’t always get access to funding or find it difficult – not just help more established organisations.”
They said that due to the high level of interest in the fund, the combined authority is looking to expand it to other groups.
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