East Midlands Mayor: What all six candidates have to say about transport
We've spoken to all six of the region's mayoral candidates ahead of polls opening next week.
Last updated 23rd Apr 2024
Next week, we're heading to the polls to elect the first ever regional mayor for the East Midlands.
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire will choose who will head up the new Combined County Authority on Thursday, May 2nd.
It follows a devolution deal that was signed with the Government, to divert some decision-making powers from Westminster up to the East Midlands.
The deal will provide £1.14bn in funding, spread over 30 years, with a further £1.5bn in transport money.
The candidates are Frank Adlington-Stringer (Green Party), Ben Bradley (Conservatives), Alan Graves (Reform UK), Matt Relf (Independent), Helen Tamblyn-Saville (Liberal Democrats) and Claire Ward (Labour).
All six have spoken to us, outlining their priorities.
Here's what they have to say about the issue of transport:
Frank Adlington-Stringer (Green Party)
Frank Adlington-Stringer was born in Chesterfield and is North East Derbyshire’s first-ever Green Party councillor.
We spoke with him about his plan to start a "Green industrial revolution" at Cromford Mills, near Matlock.
""I'm the only candidate that's promising to bring the buses into public control.
"I think it's really important that the mayor has democratic oversight of our bus and transport systems.
"So bring them back into public hands, make sure that that we have integrated ticketing across our services, so you can use one ticket tap on and off.
"And we will link that up with active travel so you can walk and cycle to the bus stop, and then that gets you to the train, for example, in time for that departure.
"It's really important have a joined up plan. So I'm committed to delivering and the only way we can do that is by publicly owning our buses.
"We also want to re-open forgotten train stations making sure that people who are left behind in rural areas can get around our region, it unlocks tourist opportunities, and it's really important we do that.
"I'm also committed to making sure that travel is free for young people under the age of 18."
Ben Bradley (Conservative Party)
Ben Bradley was born in Derby and is the current leader of Nottinghamshire County Council and the Conservative MP for Mansfield.
We spoke to him about his plans to bring "major investment" to the region in his Mansfield constituency.
"Transport is one of the key priorities of the mayor, one of the key powers that we've secured and actually as somebody who runs a transport authority already, I'm really well placed to understand how we can deliver better outcomes.
"I've worked for over a year to secure this one and a half billion pound transport fund that's now coming forward.
"So I will invest heavily in resurfacing our roads, I know that's a massive priority for local residents.
"I will deliver an integrated bus service where we can fill the gaps, you can tap on and off, the ticketing timetables all join up, and every resident is connected by at least on demand transport, even the most rural areas you can book a bus and nobody is cut off which I think is really important for local people.
"We can work with train providers on improving the timetabling and delivering those new lines that we've been talking about for years and years and never managed to do and also deliver more on active travel where currently we bid for piecemeal, one off pots of money.
"Here we can devolve new funding, build a long term strategy and build a joined up network of walking and cycling, particularly for our rural areas where we can boost our visitor economy too".
Alan Graves (Reform UK)
Alan Graves became a Reform UK councillor in 2020, and was elected mayor of Derby in May 2023.
Speaking to us in Derby, he said his only priority is to abolish the position as East Midlands Mayor.
"Part of the regional mayor's remit is to engage with things called 15 minute cities, ULEZ, or whatever you want to call them.
"I am completely against them and will spend my time stopping any of that because I think people should have freedom of movement, as with freedom of lots of things, but freedom of movement is very important.
"Because what will happen is that only the very rich people will be able to drive their cars around."
Matt Relf (Independent)
Matt Relf has been a councillor for Ashfield District Council for almost five years.
He is the cabinet member responsible for economic regeneration.
"We've got to overhaul how we're doing highways maintenance across the region.
"The county councils and city councils will continue to be the highways authorities. But as mayor, I'll be able to bring my 10 years of experience of mobilising highways contracts across the UK so that we can fix potholes once and for all and really solve that issue.
"On the public transport side of things, we've got so many disparate providers doing different things and not talking to one another.
"We need to bring that together so we've got integrated timetabling, integrated transport so that you can catch a bus that connects with the tram that connects with the train rather than having a disparate journey.
"And all of that needs to sit under an integrated ticketing system, so you can plan your journey, pay for it in one place and go through that whole journey on one ticket without having to have the complication of buying from here, there and everywhere.
"With all of that, we'll be mobilising the East Midlands, getting people to where they need to go for study, for work and for play."
Helen Tamblyn-Saville (Liberal Democrats)
Helen Tamblyn-Saville lives in Retford and owns a children's book shop.
She also stood in the 2019 General Election in Bassetlaw and works as a district councillor for Retford West.
"Transport is at the heart of the East Midlands and getting our public transport right is absolutely essential as we work towards Net Zero.
"Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire is a huge area, and yet we're not as well connected as we should be.
"East to West connectivity is almost non existent and as mayor that is one of the things that I would look to fix.
"I support an integrated and simplified ticketing system, with capped fares making it more affordable for people to travel throughout the region. Everyone should be able to afford to get to work, or get to college on public transport and capped fares would help that.
"We also need to work to make our transport more accessible and by that I don't just mean affordability, but we need to ensure that our public transport systems are as accessible as possible for wheelchair users, those who are visually impaired and those who are deaf.
"Everyone deserves a public transport network that works."
Claire Ward (Labour Party)
Claire Ward was first elected as MP for Watford in 1997.
She moved to Nottinghamshire in 2010 and is now chair Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
"We need to make this region much better connected. And in order to do that, I'll get a grip of the roads, buses and trains.
"I'll work with councils to make sure they fill the potholes. And we need to do it properly. So we're going to have to have good road resurfacing, and I'll hold the council's to account for doing that because they will still be responsible for it, even after May.
"I'll work with the bus companies to improve services and increase the routes. If there's no progress, we have the option to take them back under public control and I'll move swiftly to do that. We already have great services in Nottingham in public control.
"I'll introduce integrated public transport ticketing with tap and go technology and I'll cap some fares.
"I'll also rollout more charging points for electric vehicles and support schemes to get more people walking and cycling.
"That's what we need in this region, better integration. And I want it to be not just support for public transport, but I want to get people moving too."
You can here more from the candidates in our news bulletins all this week.