North Yorkshire mayor candidate: Keane Duncan

Keane Duncan is one of six candidates campaigning to be the first mayor of York and North Yorkshire

Keane Duncan is the Conservative Party candidate for the mayoral election.

He was elected to North Yorkshire Council in May 2022.

He is currently responsible for transport and road safety at the authority.

He says he wants to represent all area of the region

Mr Duncan says that despite the size of the mayoral region, which stretches 116 miles (186km) from the Lancashire border to the North Yorkshire coast, he would be a mayor for every corner of the patch.

Travelling in a camper van named “Peggy,” Mr Duncan has challenged himself to visit 1,000 York and North Yorkshire’s communities ahead of polling day on 2 May.

Fares, frequency and the A64 are part of his transport plans

Mr Duncan says bus services would be protected in York, with extra weekend, evening and rural services elsewhere.

A flat £1 bus fare for under 21s would be introduced and two hours of free parking would be offered to every town and city, with the cost covered from the mayor's budget.

Mr Duncan says he would also financially support the dualling of a section of the A64, if government would also agree to support the project financially.

Technology can help tackle crime, he believes

Mr Duncan says he would expect North Yorkshire Police to respond to every burglary, including those in sheds and outbuildings.

He also wants to see trials of facial recognition CCTV in York, Harrogate and Scarborough.

He wants discounted homes for first-time buyers

Mr Duncan says he would “encourage” developers to build more homes to be sold at a discount to first-time buyers.

He would also use his mayoral powers to build more affordable homes aimed at new buyers on brownfield sites.

The candidate also supports the creation of an online portal to enable first-time buyers to browse the homes that are available.

In his own words