Mayor for York and North Yorkshire would be 'wonderful for area' says MP
Kevin Hollinrake says the levelling-up of England will be great for the North
The MP for Thirsk, Malton and Filey says the introduction of a Mayor for York and North Yorkshire would be wonderful for the area.
Kevin Hollinrake, who used to work for levelling-up minister Michael Gove, is welcoming his 12-mission plan to improve things like education, transport and broadband EVERYWHERE.
But it has received criticism from opponents who say it is just re-announcing old plans.
Kevin said: "It's a new plan. It's true to say money's been allocated already but it hasn't been designated where that money will be spent, so this is about actually specifying how levelling up is going to work, so I think this will be billions of pounds that will be spent in various different parts of the North and Midlands.
"I like lots of things that are in this today, not least the fact that he's confirmed we're pushing ahead now with what we've wanted for a long time which is an elected mayor for the York City region, City of York and North Yorkshire for the region, which I think will be tremendous for economic prospects.
"Most success in life is driven by leadership and what this does is it gives the opportunity for somebody to set their own manifesto, decide what priorities will be for York and North Yorkshire and try to implement that. I hope it won't be a policitian, I hope it'll be someone from the business world, people who know how to get things done.
"I think the really good thing about this is that you have somebody in post now in that department who absolutely gets this and can absolutely execute this. I worked for Michael Gove for four years. He gets under the skin of an issue, understands it and then deploys the full resources available to it."