There's been a seismic shift in the past few years accelerated by the devolution of power away from Westminster and managed at local level by emergent Combined Authorities under the leadership of place-based mayors here in the UK.
You'll see it and feel it in place, particularly if you live in the Midlands and the North of England. Manchester led the way and this blueprint is now what is driving forward one of the UK's most rural regions here in York and North Yorkshire.
There is a lot of energy in the room right now with Andy Burnham as Prime Minister. It is an ethos which is starting to focus on investment back into communities which have, for many years, been underinvested in and feel forgotten about. Regional mayors give an opportunity to focus on the right types of investment and the real world response required on the ground to make change. Combined Authorities are now the new drivers of change and Mayors are very much in the driving seat.
Communities have been telling us for some time that they feel disconnected but even in the beautiful and historic places we call home in York and North Yorkshire there is a misunderstanding of what affluence looks like with pockets of North Yorkshire masking the deprivation that exists beyond the tourist routes and the rolling landscapes from the Dales to the Coast. There are big challenges for coastal and farming communities and David and his team has been responding to this through a focused programme of funding which is unlocking social good and infrastructure benefits in communities across the region. Housing, roads, recycling, climate change, policing, the hight street: these are all connected issues.
York and North Yorkshire is a region which covers over 8,300km with a population of 830,000 people with a regional economic output of £20.5billion a strong visitor economy with over 30million visitors and over 37,000 businesses.
It was a pleasure to talk in this episode to Mayor David Skaith who has been delivering great work across his diverse region to help unlock social good and bring together funders, charities and policy makers across a number of sectors. David is not your usual serial politician, he's Yorkshire to his core, and for many years championed the role of the high street as a successful retail entrepreneur. He's got brilliant lived experience of making a change and is passionate about his place. He's also a big fan of The Purpose Brief. Thank you David.
Communities have needed authentic politicians for many years and in this episode you will hear David talk frankly about what has shaped him, his response to declining trust in Government, the changes at the top of Labour and what this region means to him.
We talk about the incoming tourism levy, his work on the natural health service, skills and coastal communities, arts and heritage and the role of the Voluntary, Charitable and Social Enterprise sector.
But politics aside I talk to leaders who create impact and social good from different sectors. But the most challenging question of the day, for me, is who out of all those mayoral leaders holds the title of Best Dressed Mayor? The verdict is in. I think I have the answer for you.
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