James Palmer (mayor)

James Palmer (born 2 October 1969) is a politician and the first Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, elected as the Conservative candidate on 4 May, 2017.[1] As a former councillor, he was previously leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council between May 2013 and May 2017. He was also a county councillor for the Soham and Fordham Villages electoral division of Cambridgeshire County Council between 2009 and 2017.

James Palmer
Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Assumed office
8 May 2017
Preceded byOffice created
Leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council
In office
May 2013 – May 2017
DeputyCharles Roberts
Preceded byPeter Moakes
Councillor for East Cambridgeshire District Council
In office
2007 – May 2017
WardSoham North
Personal details
Born
James Palmer

(1969-10-02) 2 October 1969
Political partyConservative

Some of Palmer's key priorities since being elected as mayor are the construction of a metro system for Cambridgeshire, including underground tunnelling in Cambridge, upgrading the A47 in Cambridgeshire to dual carriageway, delivering Peterborough's first university with degree-awarding powers and building more affordable homes, including through community land trusts.[2]

Early life

Palmer was born and raised in Soham, Cambridgeshire, into a farming family. He attended Soham schools St Andrews Church of England School and Soham Village College and went on to study at the Cambridgeshire College of Agriculture and Horticulture. He then worked for and ran the family dairy business, H Palmer and Sons, based in Soham.[3]

Political career

As a councillor

Standing for The Conservative Party, Palmer was elected as East Cambridgeshire District Councillor for the Soham North ward for the first time in 2007. He was re-elected in 2011 and 2015.[4] He was elected as a Cambridgeshire County Councillor for the first time in 2009, in the Soham and Fordham Villages electoral division. He was re-elected in 2013. He was leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council from May 2013 until his election as Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, when the post became automatically vacant. He also vacated his county councillor role at the same time. As leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council, he helped secure the funding for the Ely southern bypass to alleviate congestion in the city.[5] Under his leadership the council also developed plans for £13.5 million leisure centre and a cinema complex for Ely.[6] The new Hive Leisure Centre was opened in May 2018.

He championed community land trusts as an innovative way to deliver affordable rental homes for working people whose circumstances meant they did not qualify for social housing, but were struggling to afford high private rents.[7]

Mayoral election

Then leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council and a Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Palmer announced in December 2016 he would be campaigning to be the Conservative candidate for Mayor and was selected on 21 January 2017 following a hustings event.[8]

When he was selected he said: “The new Combined Authority has the opportunity to enhance the lives of the people in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough by investment in infrastructure, housing and skills. I am determined that, should I go forward and win the election, my vision of a strong county competing internationally with world renowned centres will be realised…Cambridgeshire and Peterborough must unite as one to provide the perfect location for international business and worldwide investment. Our competition is not Peterborough against Cambridge, but Peterborough and Cambridgeshire against California, Shanghai and Germany. Investment in any part of the county is and will be mutually beneficial.”[9]

In the immediate run-up to the election, in an interview with the Cambridge News, he said he would invest in transport infrastructure to help business growth spread across the whole of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and make job opportunities accessible to more people.[10] He argued that a light rail metro, with underground tunnelling in Cambridge and extending to surrounding towns and business parks would improve people's ability to get around the congested area and open up its opportunities to more people. He also called for upgrades to the A10 and A47 and an extension of the M11 to link Chatteris, March and Peterborough. Palmer said that the right infrastructure would also help bring forward the housing growth Cambridgeshire urgently needed.

Palmer was elected Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough on 4 May 2017 with 88,826 votes (76,064 first preferences and 12,762 transfers under the supplementary vote system in the second round), and 56.9% of the final vote.[11] Upon being elected he said: “I am immensely proud to be the first mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and I will do everything I can to make sure everybody is included in the future of this county.”[12]

As Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Six days after being elected, Mayor Palmer announced plans for his first 100 days in office. That included the roles local council leaders would play in his cabinet and their portfolio responsibilities, as well as announcing two deputy mayors. The plan included commissioning business cases for the dualling of the A47 in Cambridgeshire, and dualling the A10 between Cambridge and Ely. The plan also included launching feasibility studies for a light rail and underground system for Cambridge and the extension of the M11 north of the city to the A47. The advancement of the next phase of the University of Peterborough, including funding, was also announced.[13]

In November 2017, Palmer joined other regional mayors to call for the UK government to allow further devolution to mayoral combined authorities. That included public services like skills, training and apprenticeships, as well as fiscal devolution to gain some control over taxes and revenues generated within combined authority areas.[14] Palmer is currently exploring the potential for ‘Devolution 2’ to bring the health and adult social care budget for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough under the control of the combined authority, with a view to saving money and improving service delivery.[15] Palmer is also pressing for the ability to set up Mayoral Development Corporations, a power already held by the Tees Valley Combined Authority.

After concerns surfaced about the way the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) was being run, resulting in the Government holding back funding, Palmer wrote an open letter in September 2017 saying the organisation was no longer able to fulfil its purpose of supporting the area's business community.[16] Palmer would later support its merging to with the Combined Authority, where it was proposed to operate under an independent Business Board.[17][18] The Business Board, he said, “will involve the public and private sectors working together closely will provide a powerful business voice for Greater Cambridgeshire and Peterborough."[19]

Among Palmer's key priorities as Mayor has been to progress with work on delivering a metro system in Cambridgeshire, with underground tunnelling in Cambridge city centre.[20] Due to the significant estimated cost, the Mayor is looking at financing through land value cap and tax increment financing (TIF) and significant investment from the private sector.[21] The uplift in value of land caused by new transport links is capped, with a proportion of that value going to finance the infrastructure scheme itself.[22]

In March 2018 Palmer announced he would be supporting the A47 Alliance campaign for full dualling of the trunk road from the A1 near Peterborough to Lowestoft in Suffolk.[23] The dualling of the A10 from Cambridge to Ely, and the eventual extension of the M11 north to the A47 to better connect the north and south of Cambridgeshire are also ongoing road priorities.[24][25] His rail priorities include establishing a rail link for Wisbech, building a station at Soham and delivering an interim station at Cambridge South by 2021, years ahead of the proposed 2025-27 timescales for the full station, as proposed via East-West Rail.[26][27]

Palmer argues that better transport links will also help ease the housing crisis because people will be able to live and work in a greater variety of locations.[28] Palmer also wants to significantly accelerate the delivery of affordable housing across the area. He is heavily in favour of community land trusts, a relatively new idea, to help build more affordable homes across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.[29]

Since his election, Palmer has also campaigned to reform the region's education system and for further devolution from Westminster.[30]

Personal life

In 2018 Palmer marked 25 years of marriage and has two children with his wife. A football fan, he has been a lifelong supporter of Tottenham Hotspur and is a season ticket holder. His cousin is the Burnley FC and England international goalkeeper Nick Pope.[31]

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References
  1. "James Palmer is Cambridgeshire's first mayor". Cambridge News. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  2. Elworthy, John. "Mayor Palmer hits the ground running with 'first 100 days' strategy to boost Cambridgeshire and Peterborough". Cambs Times. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  3. "Soham Milkman Raise Money For Macmillan". Ely Standard. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  4. Jolley, Ben. "Councillor James Palmer, Leader of East Cambs District Council, announces bid to become mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough". Ely Standard. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  5. "Work starts in earnest on new congestion busting Ely bypass". Cambridgeshire County Council. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  6. Comber, Ben. "Will Cambridgeshire Mayor candidate James Palmer win your vote?". Cambridge Independent. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  7. Savva, Anna (2 November 2016). "East Cambridgeshire District Council set to begin construction of new Ely homes". cambridgenews. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  8. Pilgrim, Tom (23 January 2017). "Conservative candidate for Cambridgeshire mayor chosen". cambridgenews. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  9. "James Palmer selected as Conservative Mayoral candidate for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough". South East Cambridgeshire. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  10. Pilgrim, Tom (30 April 2017). "Cambridgeshire mayor candidates explain why you should vote for them". cambridgenews. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  11. "Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough". BBC News. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  12. Maguire, Samar (5 May 2017). "James Palmer is Cambridgeshire's first mayor". cambridgenews. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  13. Elworthy, John. "Mayor Palmer hits the ground running with 'first 100 days' strategy to boost Cambridgeshire and Peterborough". Cambs Times. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  14. Mansfield, Daniel. "Regional mayors make call for more powers to be devolved". Hunts Post. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  15. Gardner, Gemma. "Mayor brewing a plan to reform the public sector across Cambridgeshire". Cambridge Independent. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  16. "Cambridgeshire suffering 'reputation damage' says mayor as government withholds £37m growth funding for enterprise partnership". Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  17. Elworthy, John. "Mayor James Palmer effectively declares a vote of no confidence in local enterprise partnership (LEP)". Ely Standard. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  18. Bristow, Tom. "Under-fire LEP will be scrapped and replaced by new business board". Wisbech Standard. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  19. "Plans for a new 'business board' unveiled". cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  20. "Step forward for Cambridge metro plan". BBC News. 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  21. "Cambridge mayor breaks down funding plan for £1.7bn metro". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  22. "James Palmer: The Land Value Cap offers the chance of more affordable infrastructure | Conservative Home". Conservative Home. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  23. bishop, chris. "Mayor backs dualling". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  24. Pilgrim, Tom (8 January 2018). "'Danger road' A10 to be dualled in half-a-billion pound scheme". cambridgenews. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  25. Thomas, Josh (1 June 2018). "The M11 could be extended from Cambridge to Peterborough". cambridgenews. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  26. Gardner, Gemma. "Cambridge South station scheduled to arrive in 2025". Cambridge Independent. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  27. Butler, Clare. "Mayor James Palmer wants to reopen stations in Soham and Wisbech as he says it's time to look beyond Network Rail to deliver 'essential infrastructure'". Wisbech Standard. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  28. Comber, Ben. "Land cap will help young people in Cambridge get homes says mayor James Palmer". Cambridge Independent. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  29. Elworthy, John. "Mayor James Palmer believes land trust loan offers solution to providing Cambridgeshire with affordable homes". Ely Standard. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  30. "'We need major reforms to drive county forward' says Cambridgeshire mayor James Palmer". Cambridge Independent. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  31. Jolley, Ben. "Wicken-born goalkeeper Nick Pope joins England football team". Ely Standard. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
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