Reform's Olympic champion mayor goes to war with his staff

Telegraph

4 days ago

An Olympic boxer elected as one of Reform UK's first mayors has become embroiled in a war with his own officials, The Telegraph can disclose.
Luke Campbell, who won gold for Team GB at the 2012 Olympics, asked five senior staff at the Hull and East Yorkshire combined authority (HEYCA) to resign last week, amid claims and counter-claims about their performance and his management style.
The 37-year-old mayor said staff had been 'blocking' his agenda since he was elected in the region's inaugural mayoral contest in May, while they were working from home and trying to 'get paid a fortune and do as little as possible'.
However, Mr Campbell has also faced accusations that he tried to book first-class train tickets on expenses, organised an office move without following official rules and created a 'toxic working environment' for staff.
Since the party's historic victory in 12 council areas and two mayoralties in May, Reform's new leaders have found themselves bumping up against so-called woke bureaucracy and red tape.
Mr Campbell, who was born in Hull, has become a poster boy for the party's work in local government under the newly created HEYCA. He has said he was sick of Conservative 'lies' and wanted to improve the area where he grew up.
But in the past three months, he has said his work has been frustrated by staff seconded to the combined authority from across the UK. Insiders said his 'one-man band' approach had made him unpopular in the office and staff miserable in their jobs.
Tensions reached a boiling point on Wednesday when he asked five senior staff to resign after a series of conflicts about following local government protocol.
The Telegraph understands that at least three of them had already handed in their notice after clashing with the mayor, and have now been placed on gardening leave.
Mr Campbell has now said he will hire young, local people to work for the combined authority, who are 'energetic' and will pursue his policy agenda.
His supporters say his swashbuckling approach demonstrates how Reform would work in Whitehall, using Elon Musk-style cost-cutting and a suspicion of red tape.
That approach has created tension in the councils where Reform is now in charge.
It is claimed that after months of dispute between Mr Campbell and the HEYCA staff, he has created a 'toxic working environment' and the office is 'not a happy place'.
A source close to the mayor denied that he had created an unpleasant working environment in Hull, blaming the departing staff for the animosity since May.
'As soon as they don't get their own way, they say it's a toxic working environment,' the source claimed.
Going against local government protocol
It is understood issues began shortly after Mr Campbell took office when he tried to claim first-class train tickets on expenses, against normal local government protocol.
'There was a mismatch of what he had been used to, and what is allowed,' said one person familiar with the situation.
The disagreement prompted a formal review by an independent remuneration panel, which recommended that Mr Campbell should only be allowed to claim for standard class travel unless more expensive trains had been explicitly approved by the finance director.
Records of the review show it concluded: 'Value for money is paramount and must be considered when making any claims.
'Any claims which may be considered not value for money, such as first-class travel, must be approved in advance.'
Reform denied that Mr Campbell had tried to claim first-class travel.
However, it is not disputed that he then took 'huge issue' when staff told him he would not be allowed to hire Jack Anderton, a 23-year-old Reform digital strategist, and Robin Hunter-Clarke, a former Ukip official, as political advisers in his office.
Local government rules say those roles are 'politically restricted', barring campaigners or employees of political parties from working as council officials.
But a Reform source said the two men were 'the people who advised him for the whole campaign' and should have been allowed to work on HEYCA staff.
The Telegraph understands the issue has become a major sticking point between Mr Campbell and the officials in recent months, and that he has suggested creating new roles that would allow him to hire the two men legally.
The lack of political staff in his office created a headache for the mayor when he was presented with the White Rose Agreement – a joint statement he had been asked to sign with three Labour mayors in Yorkshire.
Mr Campbell originally backed the idea, pledging to work with his Labour counterparts, but withdrew shortly before it was intended to be signed last week after objecting to a reference to net zero.
A party source said that opposing net zero was 'pretty much a prerequisite' for a Reform mayor, and that his support for the agreement collapsed at the last moment because the text had not been agreed in advance.
War on working from home
Like other Reform mayors, Mr Campbell has waged war on staff working from home, which was permitted in interim contracts signed by his officials before he won the mayoralty earlier this year.
He demanded all employees return to the office five days a week, leading to at least two resignations from officials who lived on the other side of the country and stayed in an East Yorkshire hotel for three days a week to attend meetings in the office.
'He has been frustrated with the pace of the public sector, and with policy officials from the council,' said one insider, adding that after arriving in local government from the outside, Mr Campbell had 'a lot of catching up to do'.
According to those familiar with the situation, the tipping point came in the last month when Mr Campbell decided to find a new office building to replace the temporary arrangement used by HEYCA since it was established.
He decided that the team should move into 2 Humber Quays, a modern office block on the banks of the Humber with panoramic views of the river and city, and told officials that he had negotiated a 'discount' with the owner.
But staff hit back, telling him that he had not completed the relevant paperwork for his idea, and suggested that the team should move into a cheaper former council building.
'Someone said to him, 'You can't do that, you need to do a feasibility study and report, and find out why other offices aren't suitable',' said one source.
'He does get frustrated,' they said. 'He's come from a completely different world.'
Sources close to Mr Campbell said he was furious that his plan had been blocked, and that he intended to go ahead with the move now that some officials had left the organisation.
'If the man who has been elected with a huge mandate wants to do something, he should be allowed to do it,' the source said.
Mr Campbell told The Telegraph it was the staff, not the bureaucracy of local government, that was to blame for the issues at HEYCA over the last three months.
'It didn't feel like they were doing the job I wanted them to do, and I didn't feel like they were doing a good enough job,' he said.
'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.
'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.'