Opinion: ‘Standing for Reform has left Luke Campbell’s golden reputation in tatters’
SUCKER PUNCH: Luke Campbell at the amusements in Bridlington. Picture from his social media
By Phil Ascough
Truth was the first casualty of the current mayoral election campaign.
From the moment he was confirmed as the candidate for Reform UK, Luke Campbell was on the front foot, using social media to drive his allegations that local authorities are corrupt and wasteful. Without presenting a shred of evidence.
After his failure to attend the latest business hustings [on April 11], the flak was flying in the other direction.
That’s the nature of politics, a game which the former boxer says he knows nothing about, but one in which he has embraced similarities with his past profession in terms of high hopes and hot air.
In Hull and East Yorkshire, the mayoral election is like no other, as demonstrated by the trail of hustings covering any number of issues.
The notion that the role is not political is for the birds. We have a Labour government, Conservative and Liberal Democrat leaders of the local authorities, and MPs across the region representing Conservative and Labour. The mayor will have to build partnerships across all of those rivalries, and someone lacking tact and diplomacy could soon find themselves on the ropes.
As political novices Rowan Halstead of the Yorkshire Party and Kerry Harrison of the Greens are in the same boat, but at least they don’t carry the burden of having criticised the system, the main parties and by extension their fellow candidates with such glaring and groundless accusations as those levelled by Campbell.
Let’s look at his claim of wasting money. It’s likely that the biggest unplanned spend by Hull City Council during 2024 was on clearing up after the right-wing riots, with yet more expense incurred by businesses who had their windows smashed, premises torched, stock looted and staff terrified.
Anyone who saw the perpetrators as they disgraced the flag they claim to cherish by spewing race hate, attacking police, and trashing anything in their path would have been in no doubt that, whether incited or not, they were rioting on issues Reform has ruthlessly exploited.
That doesn’t mean all Reform UK voters are rioters, and by the same token not all MPs and councillors are the same. All but a handful of our elected representatives and their staff are honest, diligent, hard-working and doing a difficult, often exhausting job to try and make a positive difference. If Campbell and his puppeteers have evidence to the contrary then let’s see it.
By working together we have shaped a city region which is genuinely top ten in many respects. That’s the reality regardless of whether it suits the warped Reform UK narrative, which is designed to drive division, unleash chaos, wipe out public services and communities and cash in on the cut-price spoils. For an example of how it’s done look across the Atlantic at the tactics of Donald Trump, poster boy for Reform leader Nigel Farage.
Whatever the reason for Campbell crying off by email 45 minutes before the start of the microbusiness and youth enterprise hustings last Friday, the fact remains we were denied the chance to ask him how on earth he allowed his golden reputation to be hijacked.
In heading to the hustings my mind was on November 2017 when, as President, I led a delegation from the Chamber of Commerce to Brussels where we were due to meet Brexit Party officials, including Farage. He didn’t show up. His aides said he was “probably in the smoking cabin”.
A similar scenario at the hustings meant I couldn’t quiz Campbell during the networking breaks on how he squares his party’s stated support for chlorinated chicken with his supposed commitment to British farmers. Nor could I ask him about his commitment to “give something back”, and whether his interest might have more to do with the prospect of a mayoral pay packet which will be set before the election and, according to informed sources, could be six figures.
Surely the urge to give back was the inspiration behind the Luke Campbell Foundation? It was incorporated as a Community Interest Company in September 2014 and dissolved via compulsory strike off in November 2017.
The accounts for the first year of operation – the only ones listed in the Companies House file – show turnover of £813 and a profit of £580. The foundation’s website featured two sponsors selling high-end watches and cars, but it was taken down soon after Farage’s PR stunt announcing Campbell’s candidacy.
Billed as having been “created to ensure disadvantaged children are given every opportunity to follow in his illustrious footsteps”, there’s no evidence Campbell’s foundation actually did anything.
For examples of how to get it right look no further than Tommy Coyle, who lost to Campbell in the Rumble at the Rovers in 2015 but who is the undisputed champion when it comes to supporting communities, giving back properly, and only shouting about it to try and encourage others to do the same.
Yet Campbell is considered to have more than a puncher’s chance in this election. Some people are still starry-eyed about the gold medal even though it’s nearly 13 years since he won it, and more than four years since he retired from the ring.
Out of the public eye, he seemed to be doing a steady job of being a regular guy, family man, the occasional charity gig, preserving a hard-won reputation which is now in tatters because he’s fallen for the reptilian charms of Reform.
‘TERRIFIC HUSTINGS’: Mayoral candidates and entrepreneurs. From left, Victoria Smith, David Carter, Margaret Pinder, Mike Ross, Anne Handley, Kerry Harrison and Ellie Green
If you’re thinking he’s worth a punt because things can’t get worse than they are, think again. The suspicion is that Campbell has been called in purely as an ambassador who will be trundled out for ceremonial duties while others pull the strings and pursue the millions of pounds which, in the hands of grown-ups, would kickstart the next round of regeneration in Hull and East Yorkshire.
A Reform win would plunge regional politics into chaos and have a disastrous impact on the businesses which rely so much on strong partnerships, and on trusted civic leaders who can be relied upon to turn up.
Investment will stall, services will be cut, culture and community will be set back years and we’ll find ourselves in the same music hall script as Clacton, where the MP Farage is notoriously too frequently AWOL.
And jobs will be lost, so if you’re tempted to be conned by Campbell and Farage think very carefully about what that might mean for you, your family and your friends.
Campbell’s representative said the candidate couldn’t make it “due to an unavoidable family matter”.
His social media posts suggest he was in Bridlington on the day that he ducked the hustings, playing on the seaside amusements instead of lining up alongside the other candidates – the same people he was so quick to disparage – to find out about the challenges facing microbusinesses and young entrepreneurs.
The next day he posted from Goole, and he followed that with a vacuous video clip ostensibly supporting the campaign to prevent the closure of the town’s hospital. Remember, Farage advocates replacing the NHS with an insurance-based system.
Campbell missed a terrific hustings at which everyone who turned up made a valuable contribution. The young entrepreneurs demonstrated the creativity and commitment which should serve them well as they develop their businesses. The candidates were given plenty of ideas during the formal proceedings and the networking about what they can do to help if they win the election.
His agent’s message asked whether it might be possible to arrange a meeting with the organisers, but it doesn’t work like that. A private chat is no substitute for the challenge of the hustings – seconds out, the questions are flying in, let’s see what you’re made of.
But Campbell’s absence, coupled with some inane social media posts, suggests he’s not even a lightweight in this game, more a political punchbag who will have us all heading for a fall.
The candidates standing in the mayoral election on Thursday, May 1 are: Luke Campbell (Reform UK), Anne Handley (Conservative), Rowan Halstead (Yorkshire Party), Kerry Harrison (Green Party), Margaret Pinder (Labour and Co-operative) and Mike Ross (Lib Dem).