Green Party candidate Sally Horscroft on why she is standing to be Greater Lincolnshire Mayor

The Green Party candidate in the forthcoming Greater Lincolnshire mayoral election has stressed the need to build a “resilient, diverse economy” and to challenge Westminster to secure a “fair share of national funding”.

Sally Horscroft is one of six candidates hoping to become the area’s first ever mayor. The role will lead the newly established Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority, which controls a £24 million annual investment fund and holds powers over economic development, skills, transport, and planning.

The elected mayor will also serve as a direct link between Greater Lincolnshire and Westminster.

Residents will be able to cast their vote when polls open at 7am on Thursday, May 1 — the same day as the Lincolnshire County Council elections.

Sally is standing in both contests, running for the Swallow Beck and Witham division in a bid to unseat current Conservative county councillor Hilton Spratt.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service met Ms Horscroft for a coffee at Stokes Lawn Café in Lincoln, where she explained that although she would need to step down from any other roles if elected mayor to avoid a conflict of interest, she hopes that by standing she can influence some of the votes in the county election.

She said: “We’ve had some interesting conversations with people on their doorsteps. Anecdotal ones I’ve heard from some of our other candidates talking to people they know — actually a lot of people have said they are going to vote Green, and obviously they can’t do that if we don’t give them the option.”

The candidate also explained that although she doesn’t necessarily agree with the mayoral system, she is hoping to change the narrative, claiming “the Greens have always punched above their weight”.

“On the one hand, I feel the mayoral process is anti-democratic and puts too much control in the hands of one person — and the deputy mayor is going to be appointed, not elected.

“But on the other hand, it is happening, and I think it’s important that we have a voice. Even if we don’t get elected, I think we can change the narrative in a positive way and have some influence.”

She added: “One of the big strands of my campaign is that we need to bring more investment into the county. My aim would be to promote the county as a centre for research, development and innovation — which I think we already do to a certain extent. We’ve got the University of Lincoln, we’ve got the colleges, there’s a lot happening in Grimsby to do with renewable energy, and we are ideally positioned for research in agriculture.

“Yes, we need investment, but I think we also need to build a resilient, diverse economy.”

Sally later pointed to the current uncertainty surrounding Scunthorpe Steelworks as a reason why the economy must be broad and robust, with strength in a range of industries.

At the end of March, British Steel announced it could shut down its two blast furnaces in Scunthorpe as soon as June, potentially threatening 2,700 jobs, as US tariffs and environmental costs continue to impact its already struggling operations.

“It’s a big local employer, and if they close, that’s 2,700 jobs — not just in Scunthorpe but across the whole of the region. It’s going to have a huge knock-on effect on small businesses and suppliers.”

Sally also raised the issue of inequality — in health, wealth and opportunity — as one of the biggest challenges currently facing the area.

"It's not going to be a quick fix, but I think it's one of the most important things, whoever is elected mayor, needs to work on. Part of that will come with brining higher paid jobs into the area, creating stronger communities, and having better public transport.

“Of course, one of the big things that whoever becomes mayor needs to take on is being an advocate for the county with Westminster. Lincolnshire has traditionally been underfunded by central government, and 15 years of austerity have made that even worse.

“As mayor, one of my first priorities would be to start arguing with Westminster about getting our fair share of national funding.”

In order to enter the mayoral race, the Green Party had to crowdfund the money needed for the £5,000 deposit and a further £3,500 to be included in the election booklet.

“All our funding comes from our local members — we have no big donors or big business backing us — and our members came through,” she explained.

“The Greens have always punched above their weight, nationally and locally, and we do have an impact. We just had one MP [Caroline Lucas] and she was brilliant. Now we’ve got four, the same number as Reform UK.”

No matter who is elected the first mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, Sally emphasised hey will face challenges due to the stark differences between different areas.

“It’s a huge area — it’s two hours between the Humber and the Wash on a good day.

“The landscape, the people, the population density are so different. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ for any of it. Ensuring that each part of the region gets what it needs is going to be difficult.”