What opportunities can the East Midlands Mayor bring for students?

Ahead of the election, the mayoral candidates have been discussing their plans and ideas for the region if they are elected into this new government position.

The East Midlands Decides event took place on Friday at Confetti X in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University, Notts TV, Nottinghamshire Live and Derbyshire Live.

What is the East Midlands mayor?

A new combined authority will be created for Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Derby and Derbyshire, bringing together the benefits and helping to tackle the issues faced by these areas.

The East Midlands mayor will have greater powers in government and funding of £1.14 billion will be injected to level up the region and its services including jobs, transport and housing.

The election is on May 2 and is open to everyone registered to vote in these areas.

I spoke to the mayoral candidates to find out what they can offer for students in the areas.

Alan Graves, Reform UK candidate, said: “I believe a real mayor should listen to the student population because the most important thing is to talk to students to find out what the best thing we can provide them.”

As the candidate who wants to abolish the East Midlands Mayor if elected, Alan says changes need to be made on a national level to make businesses more competitive and help them grow in order to create more job opportunities for the future.

Ben Bradley, Conservative MP and leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “I think this is very exciting for young people, in particular, because it hits on a lot of things that are really relevant; the city centre regeneration, public transport, jobs for the future. I’m really keen for young people who live in our region not to feel like they need to go somewhere else if they want to succeed in life.”

In terms of jobs after graduating, connecting universities and education providers to jobs in the region and creating more job opportunities by bringing in more businesses and employers to the area are the plans of Ben Bradley.

Claire Ward, former Labour MP, said: “I think for the student population, they want to have a city that is vibrant and safe and I want to be able to work with our Police and Crime Commissioner to make sure that it is safe. I want it to be somewhere that students feel like they can stay when they graduate and they think it has everything going for them; great jobs, excellent skills, a really good transport system out of the city and into other parts of the region and an equal offer as well.

“So when you graduate, we’ve got fantastic, big industries such as Rolls Royce, Toyota, biosciences, rail industry but we’ve also got a future in green technology and energy. I think this is a huge opportunity for the student population here and that’s why I want to see so many good jobs coming from it.”

Frank Adlington-Stringer, Green party candidate, said: “I want to direct our funding towards the future, make sure that the jobs and housing are there, and make sure everyone can have a stable life of good opportunity, able to follow their passions and they feel supported in doing this. I want to make sure each and every one of us has that opportunity to strive.”

As the youngest candidate, Frank is passionate about representing the student population and delivering things that are important to them such as transport and housing. He wants to bring about change in our political system and “bring different voices to the table.”

Independent candidate, Matt Relf, said: “The main priority is overhauling our transport system so students and young people in the local area can more easily get to more jobs, choose where they want to live but also get out to the brilliant activities and attractions we’ve got in the area so that you can lead vibrant lives and do it all in an easy, efficient and affordable way is very crucial.”

“Employment prospects is an area I’m really passionate about. I’ve got particular experience in this with working with all of the partners that are involved in this so that businesses across the region can grow, strive and get the investment they need and we can engage them much more closely with the universities to unlock things like research and development prospects but also then in reciprocation, unlocking the ability to take on graduates into their company so that they can take on that extra expertise, that extra capacity to grow a fantastic resource for them.”

There is a sixth candidate for the Liberal Democrats, Helen Tamblyn-Saville, who was unable to attend the hustings event but provided a statement for the debate.

To hear more about the candidates’ plans, the East Midlands Decides show is available to watch on the Notts TV website.

(Featured image by Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)