East Midlands mayoral candidate: Helen Tamblyn-Saville

Helen Tamblyn-Saville is standing as a candidate for the Liberal Democrats

People living in the East Midlands Combined County Authority (the four local authorities of Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire) will elect their first regional mayor on 2 May. Here's what you need to know about all of the candidates and their top priorities.

Helen Tamblyn-Saville believes in 'working from the grassroots up'

A former district councillor, she runs a children's bookshop in Retford, Nottinghamshire, and stood in the 2019 General Election in Bassetlaw in the county.

She says her party was opposed to the creation of the East Midlands mayor, but "we have to work with the situation we have, not what we want it to be".

"There's a risk it could centralise the power with one person in one area, and as Liberal Democrats we don't believe in that," she says.

If elected, she says she would work with local communities to get a fair deal for the region "rather than grandstanding from the top".

Her first action as mayor would be to declare a climate emergency

She says no decisions would be made without considering the environmental impact.

"We have seen in the region the very real impact of climate change with all the storms and terrible floods," she says.

She says in her first 100 days, she would want to speak to local authorities in the region "to really get a handle on the issues where they feel they've been let down and they need support".

She says she is 'reliant on public transport'

Ms Tamblyn-Saville says that because she does not drive, she understands the difficulty in getting across the East Midlands.

"The region isn't as well connected as it should be, and public transport isn't always affordable or accessible to people," she says.

She wants to introduce integrated ticketing across bus and tram services, and says improved links would "encourage investment".

She adds it would "work towards the net zero goal".

She says the region can transition to a green economy

She wants to see more retrofitting of houses, "which would bring jobs into the area as well as making homes more efficient".

Ms Tamblyn-Saville adds it would reduce carbon emissions while reducing energy bills.

"In a cost-of-living crisis, obviously that would benefit many people," she says.

Ms Tamblyn-Saville wants the East Midlands to be an environmental role model for other regions

She says the mayor would need to "bring everyone along on that journey" but thinks the region can lead the way.

"Let's be the cleanest and greenest region in the UK and be the model for how it should be done for other towns and cities," she says.