With local elections across parts of England less than a week away, I went to visit Cambridgeshire and Peterborough as Labour try to see off an attempt to flip the region’s mayoralty, won by a knife-edge at the last election.
Current deputy mayor Anna Smith is seeing off a challenge from former Tory MP for Peterborough Paul Bristow to keep the post in Labour hands, after current mayor Nik Johnson announced he would not stand for re-election (more on why below).
The last election in 2021 was perhaps unique in British electoral history, with Johnson trailing behind the Conservatives in the first round but then winning on second preferences.
With a new first-past-the-post system for this election, Labour has been hammering home the message that progressive voters risk waking up with a Conservative mayor if they do not back Labour on May 1.
‘Only Anna can beat the Tories’
This was evident as I joined Smith and some local campaigners on a sunny canvassing session in Waterbeach, a village just north of Cambridge, represented on the council and in Westminster by Liberal Democrats.
Leaflets said in bold letters: “The evidence is clear. Only Labour’s Anna can beat the Tories in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough,” accompanied by polling from March by Labour Together which claimed the Tories have a roughly four-point lead.
While we came across one voter who was torn between Labour and the Liberal Democrats, I was pleasantly surprised by the reaction the party was receiving on the doorstep. One voter explained how they had been a lifelong Conservative, but said they fully endorse what Keir Starmer’s government is doing and would be backing Labour at the mayoral election.
As we continued knocking on doors, a car drove past Smith, pausing to stop at her as the driver wished her well in the campaign. It was an incredibly positive response for Labour – one that I must admit took me somewhat by surprise given the state of the national polls.
‘I wanted to ensure that people always had a voice’
After the session, I managed to catch up with Smith at a local Italian restaurant to talk to her about the campaign so far and her journey into politics.
“I’ve always wanted to make sure people have a voice, that’s always been really important to me,” she said.
Smith reflected on her dad’s disability, falling ill with ME when she was a child.
“I grew up with him being in a wheelchair for quite a lot of my childhood and I just saw the different way he was treated. It was almost like he wasn’t there, it really was the classic ‘does he take sugar?’. It made me really cross because I knew what an amazing person he was and how much he had to offer, and that just instilled in me that sense that I wanted to ensure that people always had a voice.”
With this in mind, how does she view the government’s controversial reforms to health-related benefits?
“Talking to my dad, the thing that he’s pulled out of the current proposals is the fact that you will no longer have to keep going back to be checked. I just remember that stress for my dad – he was unwell, he wasn’t able to work, he was never going to be able to work, but he had to keep going back and being reassessed – it was a kind of tick-box approach.
“The other thing for my dad is that he kind of got trapped in that system to an extent. He could have tried a few hours’ work, as long as it was the right kind of work, but that wasn’t available for him. There was also no right to try, so it made it really hard for him to do that.
“Someone like my dad would really benefit a lot from that, because it’s saying we won’t keep going through reassessment and we’re also going to give you that right to try.”
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‘Making a difference is what matters to me’
Smith’s sense of service did not take Smith immediately towards politics, however – serving first as a teacher and school leader in Cambridge for almost 20 years.
“One of my favourite things is when I’m walking around and I see an ex-student and I find out what they’re doing now.”
It wasn’t until ten years ago that Smith began to get involved in Labour politics, when she was asked to consider standing as a councillor.
“Service is what matters to me and making a difference is what matters to me – I thought if I can make a difference, I’ll give it a go. I started off thinking this will be a small part of my life, and it’s just got bigger and bigger.”
Smith later became a cabinet member on Cambridge City Council, then leader of the council and was called to cover for Nik Johnson as acting mayor while he underwent heart surgery, staying on as deputy upon his return.
READ MORE: Where’s Keir? PM barely features in Labour party election broadcasts for the locals
For Smith, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoralty offers the chance to transform lives across the region, with the potential to be a Labour mayor working in lockstep with a Labour government.
“I have definitely noticed a difference in the last nine months in the way that this government treats local government – it’s a much more equal partnership.
“I love this region, I love Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. I want to serve it and I think serving it as mayor is absolutely where it’s at. I didn’t stand for Parliament at the last election, because for me, it’s about staying in this region.”
‘Tiger passes are brought up on the doorstep time and time again’
When reflecting on her greatest achievement during her time as deputy mayor, two come to mind for Smith.
“We’ve taken back public control of the buses, which lays really firm foundations for the future. If I was going to take a single policy that people come back to me again and again on the doorstep, it’s the tiger passes (a £1 bus fare across the region for those under 25). I’m really pleased about that – there have been more than a million journeys with tiger passes since it launched last year.”
Smith also highlighted a paid internships programme, to help support people back into work.
“We’ve had over 100 people of different ages going through that this year. I spoke to somebody who had gone through the programme and he had been five years out of a job – he was on Universal Credit, hadn’t got any experiences that he was able to draw on and was completely trapped in that cycle of being out of work. He went to our programme and he loved it. He really blossomed from it – it was a great fit for him and a great fit for the employer, because he’s now been offered a full time job there.”
Choice between Labour and Tories
Smith admits that the election will be a tight race and repeats the message stressed on the doorstep and in her campaign literature.
“If you look at the latest polling, if you look at the results from the police and crime commissioner election last year, when you have elections across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough as a whole – it’s Labour or Tory every time.”
She said that she has had a positive response from voters while meeting people on the campaign trail, recalling how many have stopped her to say they had seen Smith and her trademark pink jacket on their social media feeds.
“I stopped off for a coffee, and the owner looked at me and looked at my pink jacket and said ‘I’ve seen that before – I got your leaflet through the door last night and, you know what, I haven’t wanted to vote for quite a long time, but I want to vote for you. I like what you’re saying, I like your policies’. That means the world when you are shaping policies that really resonate.”
‘One of the honours of my life but found myself feeling an outsider’
Later on, I travelled into Cambridge to meet the current mayor Nik Johnson, for his reflections on his “rewarding but challenging” time in office.
“It’s been one of the honours of my life, but at the same time, I’ve often found myself feeling a bit of an outsider. I wasn’t necessarily expected by anyone to take on the role. The visceral anger, particularly from the Conservatives, of why is this NHS doctor here, has been deeply unpleasant and challenging.”
Reflecting on the campaign that propelled him to victory in 2021, he said: “It was the sort of moonshot campaign based on doing things differently as this NHS doctor who had been through Covid, working as an outsider. I offered an alternative, a real change, and people bought into it.”
Having trailed the Conservatives in the first round, Johnson said it was “surreal” to later be told he had won the election.
“The chief executive came up to me and said we’ll see you in the office on Monday – to which I went ‘Where’s the office?’ I hadn’t a clue.”
Johnson had initially planned on standing for re-election but said that his health problems made a second campaign too difficult a task.
“My problems are worse than I anticipated. I’m frustrated, because I really wanted to run. What the Labour Party wanted from me as well, as opposed to what they wanted four years ago, is so much more because the party has a sort of expectation around how they’re going to run a campaign and how they want the mayors to run.
“I reckon I would have done it, but at the same time I’m not prepared to sacrifice my life.”
‘I do believe Anna will win’
On his potential successor, Anna Smith – who stood in for him for four months while he underwent heart surgery, Johnson said: “She understands that message of compassion in bucket loads. I’ve worked alongside her and I can just see the way that she cares for all and I’m proud to call her my friend.
“I was off for four months and I could see she was doing a very good job. It was a baptism of fire for her. She was thrown in at the deep end, and she wasn’t just swimming, she was getting Olympic records.
“I do believe Anna will win – I think it’s the candidate who cares the most, shows a maturity of being able to build bridges and who can appeal across generations will be the most successful.”
What next for Johnson?
What will be next for Johnson when he leaves his role after the election?
“I have an ongoing role as an NHS children’s doctor, which I will embrace. I’ll be looking for more advocacy roles, particularly highlighting what’s so brilliant about Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, but also using my expertise from local government, devolution and healthcare to deliver around challenging health inequalities and working on prevention methods to improve health for the local community.”
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