Keane Duncan is trying to win the mayorship of North Yorks with policies such as nationalising a hotel. But is there substance behind the headline-grabbing stunts?

Keane Duncan’s highest profile success, prior to being chosen as the Conservative candidate aiming to be the first elected mayor of York and North Yorkshire, was as the journalist who broke the news that Morrisons would not sell meat pies to people in Middlesbrough before 9am.

“That went off the charts, with millions and millions of views,” recalls the 29-year-old, who worked for a number of local news outlets in the north of England before quitting to focus on politics.

“It turned into this crazy viral sensation. That is my journalism legacy, everything else I’ve done is irrelevant.”

Duncan was in the room as regional newspapers transformed from print chroniclers of local politics to click-hungry online publishers constantly trying to go viral on Facebook.

Now a full-time politician – after a stint as a news editor on the Daily Star when it compared former prime minister Liz Truss to a lettuce – Duncan is attempting to apply the same approach to political campaigning.

This includes announcing on Instagram his un-Tory policy of nationalising Scarborough’s dilapidated but symbolic Grand hotel through a compulsory purchase order.

“A lot of the time, politicians are begging for coverage but this time journalists were asking me for details,” he said while driving his van around the outer reaches of North Yorkshire last week. “As a journalist, your job is to tell people’s stories. My job is to tell the story of the region.”

The risk is that this approach bypasses traditional journalism holding politicians to account. But it might just reflect the reality of political campaigns in 2024: television audiences, where news programmes are legally required to give airtime to all candidates, are in long-term decline.

Local print newspaper sales fell off a cliff a decade ago. Advertising-dependent local news websites know that traditional political stories won’t bring in the clicks they require to keep solvent. Talk to senior figures in the Labour party and they bemoan the declining reach of cut-hit BBC local radio.

Because if every election campaign is about communicating with the public, how do you reach voters when you have to fight for every click?

Duncan’s hope is that a combination of ultra-local face-to-face campaigning (he’s visiting 1,000 communities across North Yorkshire in 100 days), a few appearances in traditional outlets (the BBC held a hustings), and simple policies designed to go viral (free car parking in town centres, half-price homes) can help him connect with voters who are less likely than ever to consume traditional news outlets.

He knew that pledging to seize control of the Grand would resonate with the public because he knew how much people loved to click on stories about the hotel’s decline. In 2018, he wrote a piece for the Daily Star on the lightly sourced theory that Adolf Hitler dreamed of running Nazi-controlled Britain from the “£35 ‘shithole’ hotel”.

Conservative levelling up secretary Michael Gove, who met Duncan for a photo op in the North Yorkshire village of Deighton on Thursday, gave his backing to the approach. Standing in a bitterly cold village hall with two voters who had turned up, Gove proposed the Trump-infused “Make Scarborough Grand Again” as a slogan for the campaign.

Not everyone is sure this is good for democracy. Chris Titley worked at the Newsquest-owned York Press in the 1990s and 2000s, when the newspaper had long-serving political reporters who could phone politicians up “at any time” and hold them to account.

For the past 12 years, he has run the independent outlet YorkMix – but says commercial local media struggles to afford the resources required to cover politics: “We’ve all had to follow up Keane Duncan’s pledges as they’re outrageous and headline-grabbing. The worry for me is this is just another Brexit bus thing – a thing that helps win an election but isn’t interrogated by the media.”

He added: “I sent him a list of questions about how much money this would take and what the hoteliers of Scarborough would think, all these challenging questions. He’s so far ignored my request for this information.”

The unusual nature of this mayoral contest doesn’t help. The York and North Yorkshire devolution deal will give the new mayor control over an area five times the area of Greater London but with a population of fewer than a million people.

It yokes the Labour-leaning university city of York to struggling coastal towns and hundreds of solidly Tory villages. Duncan’s leaflets warn rural voters against choosing a “York-centric Labour mayor”.

It’s also the first mainly rural devolution deal – but, as such, the new mayor initially gets just £18m of extra central government funding. As a result, it’s difficult to see how Duncan – who previously combined his job at the Daily Star with being the UK’s youngest council leader – will be able to pay for all of his viral pledges.

The other candidates have adopted a more traditional approach. Labour’s David Skaith, who was unavailable for interview, has adopted a muted approach while touring the area alongside Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves – but is likely to benefit from the national unpopularity of the Tories.

Duncan’s only rival for headlines is independent candidate Keith Tordoff, who pledged to give 20,000 egg-laying chickens to voters under the tagline: “Conservatives will give you money for nothing – Keith will give you chicks for free!”

As for Duncan, he has no regrets on his viral campaign approach, even if he’s unsuccessful in the 2 May vote.

“Some of this stuff feels wacky but it’s sincere,” he said. “I want to change York and North Yorkshire and make sure we’re front and centre with Manchester and the West Midlands. People from outside the area wouldn’t be talking about us otherwise.”

By Emily Johnson

BBC News

Several medieval artefacts have been unearthed during the demolition of a major bridge in York city centre.

Work is currently being carried out on the Queen Street bridge as part of a scheme to improve the entrance of the city's nearby railway station.

Staff from York Archaeology said they had used the opportunity to uncover part of York hidden for 150 years.

In doing so, its archaeologists had unearthed medieval pottery, animal bones and Victorian brickwork.

In preparation for the bridge being demolished, a new temporary road had to be built over York Railway Station's long stay car park and that had yielded some "fascinating archaeology", they said.

Mary-Anne Slater, project manager for York Archaeology, said: "This is an area that has been substantially disturbed by building works during the Victorian era.

"Beneath the flags, we have found drainage ditches from the 19th Century, and below them, evidence of large medieval ditches containing broken green glaze pottery and animal bones dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries.

"This area outside the city walls was agricultural land during the medieval period, and the ditches may have been used for dumping rubbish from the medieval city."

Some disturbed bone had also been recovered from the site, which was a known Roman cemetery, but had "probably lifted from lower levels by ploughing", Ms Slater said.

Meanwhile, teams had unearthed Victorian "scoria" bricks, which were made from blast furnace slag from the industrial North and which would have lined the approaches to the station.

Pete Kilbane, deputy leader of City of York Council and executive member for transport and the economy, said: "This is a hugely complex piece of work and due to York's 2,000 years of continuous habitation, unearthing history is a factor that we must plan for.

"We liaise closely with York Archaeology to protect any discoveries while managing disruption and allowing the works to progress."

Archaeological exploration of the site is expected to continue below the Queen Street bridge site once the bridge itself has been removed and before the new permanent road is installed.

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk

A hotel, two B&Bs and a guest house across North Yorkshire have been crowned the “Best of the Best” in the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2024.

Located in York, Scarborough and Whitby, they were unveiled among an elite group of UK winners, celebrating this year's highest-rated hotels in the world based on Tripadvisor reviews.

On the heels of the 2024 Travellers' Choice Awards Best Destinations and Best Beaches, announced in January and February respectively, the 2024 Travellers' Choice Best of the Best Hotel Awards are part of Tripadvisor's larger Travellers' Choice Award umbrella, shining a light on travellers' favourite experiences globally.

This year, pet-friendly, sustainable, and wellness hotels are the newest subcategory introductions – see all winners here.

North Yorkshire hotel, B&Bs and guest house named among best in the UK for 2024

Location: 1 Clifton, York, YO30 6AA

Tripadvisor rating: 5/5 out of 571 reviews

No.1 By GuestHouse was named in the “Top 25” category from the Travellers’ Choice Awards by Tripadvisor this year.

A recent visitor left this review: “Total 5 out of 5, lovely staff from arrival to departure. A special mention for Claire and Albie in the Pearly Cow who went out of their way to make our stay a memorable experience.

“The food was delicious and the drinks menu covered a wide variety of tastes. The decor and design of the hotel was very appealing and made our stay feel quite special.”

Location: 100 Columbus Ravine, Scarborough, YO12 7QZ

Tripadvisor rating: 5/5 out of 2,283 reviews

Meanwhile, The Toulson Court was revealed in the best “B&Bs and Inns” category from Tripadvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards.

Someone left this review after their recent stay: “We're just home from another fantastic stay with Angela and James at The Toulson Court, this is an amazing b&b, exceptionally clean, comfy beds and all the added extras in the room that other places just wouldn't offer, nothing is too much trouble for them and they are happy to help and advise on how you can make your stay in Scarborough the best, if you're looking for the best place to stay in Scarborough then look no further this is the one.”

Location: 149 Columbus Ravine, Scarborough, YO12 7QZ

Tripadvisor rating: 5/5 out of 1,483 reviews

Elsewhere in Scarborough, St Michael's Guest House was featured in the same category.

This person posted: “The full stay was lovely from the warm welcome from Annie and Alex to the immaculate room very comfortable bed and a great range of breakfast items nothing was to much trouble definitely going to stay again.”

Location: 9 Prospect Hill, Whitby, YO21 1QE

Tripadvisor rating: 5/5 out of 372 reviews

Also joining the UK's “Best of the Best” champions further along the North Yorkshire coast was Hillcrest Whitby.

5 Perfect Spots for a Summer Staycation

Recommended reading:

One customer wrote a review saying: “Lovely guest house in a great location. Room was beautifully clean and spacious, breakfast was delivered to our door and was absolutely amazing. Hosts were very friendly and couldn’t do enough for us. Would definitely stay here again, highly recommend, thank you.”

Dan Mitchell, vice president and general manager of Tripadvisor hotels, commented: “Our Best of the Best Hotels are marvels, acclaimed by thousands of travellers for their remarkable service, stunning design, and wealth of amenities that redefine what it means to have an exceptional hotel experience.”

The Travellers' Choice Best of the Best Awards are determined based on the quality and quantity of traveller reviews and ratings specific to each subcategory posted on Tripadvisor over the 12-month period from January 1, 2023 through to December 31, 2023.

Plans have been submitted by North Yorkshire Council for the £11m regeneration scheme

Plans to transform Scarborough's West Pier in a £11m scheme have been submitted.

The project included new kiosks and public toilets, an outdoor events space and a seafood restaurant, North Yorkshire Council said.

It would help to boost the local economy and celebrate the seaside town's fishing industry heritage, the authority said.

The application is set to be considered by a council planning committee.

The scheme would replace current facilities and buildings with modern premises for existing tenants and businesses.

It would feature improved offices, sheds and warehousing for the fishing sector, the council said.

New parking facilities and vehicle and pedestrian management also feature in the plans.

North Yorkshire Council

The council says the plans would "breathe new life" into Scarborough's South Bay

Planning documents

Improvements to the West Pier would include new parking facilities

The application was lodged following a public consultation in September and October, with 91% of respondents agreeing intervention was required to safeguard the ageing pier.

The consultation found 71% of respondents were supportive of the proposals, according to the authority.

Public feedback meant some revisions had been made to the plans, the council said, which included changing benches to have back supports and arm rests.

Updates were also made to the design of the kiosk block.

Richard Flinton, North Yorkshire Council chief executive, said: "Reaching the planning application is an exciting stage for this project.

"Regenerating the West Pier will breathe new life into Scarborough's South Bay whilst respecting and supporting the fishing industry working on the pier."

Planning documents

A fishing business says the pier, pictured in an artist's impression, is "crying out for investment"

Some in the fishing industry previously expressed concerns the move would "take the fishermen away from the pier".

But TG Wood, a fish merchant which has been based on the pier since 1973, said it was an "eyesore" and was "crying out for investment".

Shaun Wood, who runs the family business started by his father, said: "I'm hugely supportive of the plans and the sooner it happens the better.

"We have a huge footprint that we rent from the council, but the building is in disrepair and needs modernising."

He added: "If we've got this money, let's spend it and let's make the place look better and work better for fishermen, locals and tourists."

Plans to build a new fast food restaurant in York near five schools have led to a petition against it by parents.

Residents in the Fulford Road area have voiced concerns about the impact on traffic, potential anti-social behaviour, and worries about children's diet.

Last week City of York Council said it would ban adverts for unhealthy food on authority-owned bus shelters and billboards.

McDonald's said it would work with the council and local residents to address any concerns.

'Completely gridlocked'

More than 600 people have signed the petition started by Joe Redshaw, 49, whose two sons attend primary school nearby.

He said: "There are five schools within a half mile walk from here; two within a hundred metres, and this goes against the council’s own rules about allowing fast food stores next to school buildings."

"It’s not good for the anti-social behaviour around the area. It won’t be good for people taking their kids to and from school. It’s not good for the kids’ health."

The proposed site for the new take-away is a former Iceland supermarket on Fulford Road, which is a major route into the centre of York.

"The traffic is a huge issue. Fulford Road is already completely overloaded at commuter times and during the busy seasonal periods it’s completely gridlocked."

Google

A week ago, councillors agreed to ban the promotion of high fat, sugar and salt foods on council billboards and bus shelters, which Mr Redshaw said was "a little hypocritical."

He said: "If they’re going to ban fast food advertising on billboards on a bus stop right outside this building, I think they also need to prevent this building from being a fast food store."

Another person who had signed the petition, Susana Morvan, wrote: "I teach nearby and object to the easy access to ultra processed fast food for the children of the several schools in easy walking distance at lunchtime."

She added: "I know from experience [this] will directly impact their classroom attention and learning outcomes. Our local children deserve better."

A McDonald's spokesperson said: "We are excited about the opportunity to open a new restaurant in York and look forward to working with the council and local residents to address any concerns."

The plans were submitted to the local council at the start of the month and are currently at consultation stage.

City of York Council said it couldn't comment on ongoing planning applications.