Paul Bristow: How I’ll get Cambridgeshire and Peterborough moving

Paul Bristow is the Conservative candidate for Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Since becoming our candidate in late November, the first question I ask voters is pretty simple: “Did you know we had a Mayor?”

The answer is nearly always “No!”

It’s not their fault.

Labour’s Mayor has been anonymous and delivered almost nothing besides an internal scandal. He pushed through bus franchising, with a totally unrealistic target of doubling the number of passengers. Then he quit.

It’s time for change. Here are 10 things that I will do to get Cambridgeshire and Peterborough moving:

Dual our major A-Roads: Major roads, like the A47 and A10, need to be dual carriageways. Our road network hasn’t kept pace with our growing local population and schemes like that for the A141 and St Ives are essential. I will designate a Key Route Network, get the plans in place and ensure that funding is prioritised.

Connect with faster trains. Right now, it takes longer to get between Cambridge and Peterborough than it does to get from either to London. The Ely Area Capacity Enhancement will remove the bottleneck on rail services, allowing much faster, later-running trains. Mayors are getting new rail powers and I will use them to ensure a much faster Peterborough-Ely-Cambridge service.

Build light rail in Cambridge. Cambridge is expanding and needs a transport solution. The Labour government has continued the growth agenda and is talking about 150,000 new homes. Light rail is a proven technology. The Cambridge Growth Company is already doing some feasibility work, drawing on excellent suggestions from the grassroots campaign, Cambridge Connect. I will make light rail a precondition of the government’s growth plans.

End the war on motorists. Labour’s Mayor has a target of forcing 15 per cent of cars off all local roads by 2030. Achieving this target in five years is impossible without road closures, access restrictions and charging, which his transport plan backs. Many people have no alternative to using a car. I want more alternatives, like light rail, but I will never punish drivers. So I’ll scrap this absurd target on day one and rule out any road charging or closures.

Deliver the Fens reservoir. Water shortages have become a huge issue for our region. Getting the new Fens reservoir built is essential, but political leadership from the Mayor has been lacking. After I backed the reservoir, the government announced its own support, but we can’t wait until the late 2030s for this project to happen. We need the Fens reservior now and then more schemes to manage new demand.

Scrap the failing GCP. The Greater Cambridge Partnership is a disaster: literally, the worst of the Lib Dems and Labour combined. It tried and failed to impose congestion charging in Cambridge, which was stopped through a resident uprising. It has succeeded in blocking traffic, not least on Mill Road bridge. Now it’s trying to put bonkers busways through unspoilt countryside. The GCP’s time is up and I will get it scrapped.

Bring back free parking. Peterborough city centre is struggling, as are some of our town centres like Huntingdon and St Neots. The cost of parking means they are losing customers to retail parks and online competition. We need to back our local shops. I will offer funding to our councils and work with them to deliver free parking, whether that’s for particular sites, particular days or across the board.

Stop increasing our tax. Labour’s Mayor put a precept on our council tax after saying he wouldn’t, then trebled it, then tried to increase it again this year. It took my campaign and 94% of residents rejecting an increase for him to back down. Enough is enough. I will never increase the mayoral precept.

Cut out the agendas. People are fed up of authorities indulging in politics. From promoting veganism to putting pronouns in email signatures, the cultural agendas need to stop. If I win, there will be no campaign-based days, weeks or months at CPCA ─ and no four-day week, like at Lib Dem South Cambs! The staff can leave the politics to me.

Make the Mayor matter. There are too many projects making too little difference. I want to do fewer things better. Those things will be bigger, not least because of devolution bringing new powers for mayors. Strategic planning is perhaps the most important of all, yet Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has no updated spatial plan. This is an early priority to unlock benefits for residents.

My list isn’t exhaustive.

I’ll need to sort out Labour’s mess on buses. Bus franchising is going to happen, but requires a model that actually works. I want new housing to include homes that local renters can afford to buy, with neighbourhoods where people actually want to live. Skills funding needs to give more people the ability to get and hold a job.

There are lots of challenges to overcome, but I’ll be a Mayor who is visible, who has clear priorities and who gets stuff done. Someone that people know exists because I’m making their life just that little bit easier.

I am already excited about what can be achieved. On 1 May 2025, we can get things moving.