Reform's Olympic mayor Luke Campbell is 'at war' with his staff: Boxing champ, 37, demands officials quit as row explodes over first-class train tickets
Luke Campbell, who won gold for Team GB at the 2012 Olympics, is embroiled in a vicious row at Hull and East Yorkshire combined authority.
The 37-year-old pugilist-turned-politician reportedly demanded five staff at the council to resign last week over the internal stand-off.
Mr Campbell, who was elected as the regional inaugural mayoral contest in May, claims workers have been deliberately undermining his work to roll out his policies.
He has accused civil servants - who were reportedly working from home - of trying to 'get paid a fortune and do as little as possible'.
But his comments have sparked a vitriolic war of words, with Mr Campbell facing accusations of trying to book first-class train tickets on expenses, staging an office move without following council rules and creating a 'toxic working environment'.
The mayor - seen as one of Nigel Farage's party's poster boys - is the latest Reform politician to stumble into difficulties following the group's historic election victory, which saw them claim 12 council areas and two mayoral authorities.
Former Olympian Mr Campbell - who has previously posed with a gloved-up Mr Farage in a boxing ring - says his work has been frustrated over the past three months by local bureaucrats.
One insider told the Daily Telegraph staff had clashed with the mayor over his 'one-man band' approach to politics, which has sparked friction in his council HQ.
According to the paper, the simmering row reached a head on Wednesday when the mayor allegedly demanded the resignation of five senior officials.
Three of them have reportedly been put on gardening leave after announcing they would be quitting.
It's unclear whether the two others reportedly told to leave have resigned.
Mr Campbell is believed to have butted heads with officials shortly after taking office, following an allegation he tried to claim first-class train tickets on expenses.
The claim - denied by Reform UK - would have been in breach of government rules.
However, the row led to a review by an independent remuneration panel, which later clarified in a recommendation that he could only claim for standard class travel.
Things escalated further when Mr Campbell took 'huge issue' after he was told his ambition to hire Reform digital strategist Jack Anderton, 23, and ex-UKIP official Robin Hunter-Clarke, to serve as political advisers had been barred.
The pair assisted him in his campaign to become mayor. However, under local government rules, campaigners and employees from political parties are not allowed to serve in such 'politically restricted' roles.
Bantamweight boxing ace Mr Campbell - who was born locally in Hull - was reportedly so frustrated at the decision, that he is now seeking to create two entirely new roles within the authority in a bid to bring the men into his team.
The final straw that caused the row to go nuclear is believed to have came last month, when Mr Campbell decided to find a new office building to replace the temporary arrangement used by the mayoral authority since it was established.
He opted to shift his team to a modern block at 2 Humber Quays on the banks of the Humber after reportedly telling council officials he had negotiated a 'discount' with the building's owner.
However, staff railed against the move and claimed he had failed to follow council guidance and complete the necessary paper work.
They also demanded the mayoral team should move into a cheaper former council building instead.
However, those close to the mayor claimed he was enraged that his plan had been snared in bureaucratic red tape and staff who appeared to be firmly against him.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Mr Campbell claimed he 'didn't feel like they were doing a good enough job', as he took aim at some of his senior civil servants.
'They don't know the region and didn't put any effort in, thus blocking my agenda. The rest of the team I've got a fantastic relationship with,' he told the paper.
'It's only these civil servants that are coming in from all over the country that think they can run the show, get paid a fortune and do as little as possible that I have an issue with.'
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