Reform mayor ‘stands up students with special needs after they made him lunch’ ...Middle East

One of Reform UK‘s first mayors has been accused of “disgusting behaviour” after he failed to turn up for a lunch prepared for him by catering students with special educational needs, The i Paper can reveal.

Luke Campbell, a former Olympic boxer, became mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire in May in a string of election victories for Nigel Farage’s party.

The 38-year-old had no previous political experience before landing the £72,000-a-year job which requires him to manage £400m of investment funding for the new combined authority.

In his first five months in the job, Campbell has faced accusations 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 UK. 

Now The i Paper has learned Campbell left students at Hull College upset after his failure to meet them during a visit last month.

Students were said to be hugely “excited” to meet Campbell, who won a gold medal for Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics and his regarded as a local hero in his home city.

The Reform mayor arrived at the college as promised but “yawned through the morning’s meetings, said it wasn’t for him and left before lunch”, a witness claimed.

He had been due to stay and meet catering students – some of whom had Special Educational Needs – and eat food they had prepared to show off their skills.

But a student confirmed Campbell stood them up, telling The i Paper: “Yes unfortunately he was a no show for the students.

“My peers were quite disappointed when we heard Luke went home, some of us were excited to meet him but unfortunately that opportunity passed.”

When the claims were first shared in a local Facebook group, residents reacted with anger.

“How rude,” said one. “Disgusting behaviour,” said another.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Campbell claimed he was “pulled away by Combined Authority officers at short notice” due to an “urgent matter”.

Campbell was “disappointed to have missed the opportunity to engage with the students over lunch” and promised he will return next month, the spokesperson added.

Reform mayor ‘causing a lot of frustration’

An insider at the combined authority has told The i Paper Campbell has failed to attend a number of promised meetings since being elected in May.

“It’s not uncommon for people to say ‘I was meant to be meeting Luke and it got cancelled’,” the insider said.

“That is a common refrain. I heard it from someone in the voluntary and community sector this week. It’s causing a lot of frustration, people feeling they can’t get hold of him.”

Campbell declined to comment on “rumour or speculation”.

square JAMES BALL

The one thing that could bring down Reform UK – and Nigel Farage

According to a report in The Daily Telegraph during the summer, Campbell asked five members of staff to resign following claims and counter-claims over performance.

Campbell denied the accusation he had created a “toxic” working environment and told the newspaper the staff involved had been “blocking” his mayoral agenda and were trying to “get paid a fortune and do as little as possible”.

The i Paper understands there continues to be a level of “churn” among the combined authority’s staff, with a number of vacancies and jobs being filled by staff on secondment from Hull and East Yorkshire councils.

“It does sometimes feel like musical chairs, it doesn’t help in terms of stability and direction,” the insider added.

The “latest news”, according to the combined authority’s official website, was an announcement about digital innovation funding which was published on 15 July.

Mike Ross, the Lib Dem leader of Hull council, who lost out to Campbell in May’s elections, said the fact that no updates have been issued in the past two months “is a demonstration of his inability to keep the show going.”

He said: “Before the election we were told [by Campbell] ‘I will be knocking on the door of Westminster all the time’. There’s not been a lot of that.

“There’s a broader concern from a range of people in understanding what the mayor is aiming to achieve.

“He has come in as a novice, but what is the priority? There was a gameplan in the September board meeting but there wasn’t a lot of detail .

“I still have no regrets around getting devolution for the region, it was the right thing to do.

“There was a reason why we did it – it was to unlock the economic potential of the region.

“That still needs to happen, we need to make sure it works. We need to make sure we don’t lose out because of the result of an election.”

Hull and East Yorkshire ‘new organisation’

A spokesperson for Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority said it “is a relatively new organisation, the development of which has been supported by staff on secondment from constituent authorities and a small number of external consultants with expertise in their relevant fields.”

They added: “The very nature of the development of a new authority using this approach means that changes in personnel are commonplace.

“Work on the Permanent Staffing Structure is in development and will be sent for approval in the immediate future. Once approved, the Combined Authority will begin recruitment of permanent staff.

“Until recently, communications support for the Combined Authority has been limited. This has now been addressed, and dedicated capacity is in place to ensure consistent and timely updates.

“Transparency and regular communication are key priorities for the Mayor, and website updates will begin in the coming weeks.”

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