South Yorkshire mayor candidate: Nick Allen

Conservative South Yorkshire mayor candidate Nick Allen

Nick Allen has been a Doncaster councillor since 2015 and was the first Conservative councillor in Bessacarr for almost a generation.

Born in Wheatley, he has a background in local politics and voluntary work and works for Don Valley's Conservative MP Nick Fletcher.

Reopening Doncaster Sheffield Airport is his top priority

Mr Allen says reopening the airport should be “imperative” for any mayor.

He is critical of South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority for signing a lease without an operator in place. He says there should have been more “robust and appropriate action early on”.

He would offer free bus services on hospital routes

He believes bus services need to be “accessible and fair” and would commit to make routes that go past hospitals in South Yorkshire free of charge.

Mr Allen is critical of Supertram as it does not serve the entire county and he says South Yorkshire taxpayers are subsiding a services which few passengers benefit from.

He believes the costs associated with Supertram could be better spent on other projects.

He also blames badly planned cycle lanes for causing delays.

More police officers are his key to tackling crime

As police and crime commissioner, he would want to see more officers recruited and would lobby for better salaries.

He believes there has been an increase in hate crime incidents and says, as a gay man, that South Yorkshire Police are on a “learning curve” but are on the right track and making good progress.

He says he is “ambivalent” towards the net zero agenda

He admits to being “ambivalent” towards a lot of the net zero agenda, saying he is not against it but he is not necessarily 100% behind it.

He has supported moves to preserve green spaces, such as Rose Hill in Bessacarr, and says councils need to stop chopping urban trees down and plant more trees.

Mr Allen believes local councils should limit their electricity use by switching the lights off at night or when buildings are not being used and says environmentally friendly small businesses should be recognised and supported.

In his own words