Doncaster elections 2025: Political rivals face off in hustings of mayor candidates with business leaders
The first official hustings for Doncaster mayor candidates gave city business leaders plenty to think about as political opponents came together for the first time since nominations were announced.
Seven candidates arrived for the hustings hosted by the Doncaster Chamber of Commerce at Doncaster UTC.
It was split into two parts. Firstly, all seven candidates answered questions from chamber members, then three candidates chosen by members ahead of the event stayed on stage to answer further questions.
Labour’s Ros Jones, Conservative Nick Fletcher and Reform UK’s Alexander Jones were the three picked to remain.
The trio faced questions about veteran-led businesses, funding to support people into work, and how they would retain Doncaster-grown talent within the local workforce.
It ended with Ros Jones, the incumbent Labour mayor, offering 30-year-old Alexander “a lesson in finance” after he repeatedly referenced more than £400million worth of debt the council currently has.
She told him the money he referred to had garnered assets for the council, such as building or acquiring social housing, which would generate income.
Alexander Jones told the chamber audience he wanted to invest in small and medium enterprises and apprenticeships, but said clearing the council’s debts, stripping back on waste and finding value for money were his main priorities.
He told the audience the council was being “terribly mismanaged” and it needs to change before the authority can begin investing in the community again.
Nick Fletcher urged business leaders to back him if they wanted “change”. He told the chamber no one else running cares about Doncaster as much as him.
He recalled his time in parliament when he invited Apple and Tesla representatives to visit the region and invest. Both companies reportedly told him no one else had ever extended an invite like that.
He said it’s “disgraceful” no other previous Labour representatives for Doncaster had taken that step before him.
Earlier on, the trio were joined on stage by British Democrat Frank Calladine, the Health and Social Care Party’s Doug Wright, Andy Hiles of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, and David Bettney of the Social Democratic Party.
During his introduction, Mr Wright said none of the main parties “really care about Doncaster”.
He said he has always tried to improve things for the people of Doncaster.
Andy Hiles said he would be a friend of business leaders and asked them not to judge him too early for being a trade unionist.
He claimed to be the “most positive candidate” in the race and would continue to help communities across Doncaster to solve local problems.
British Democrat Frank Calladine said Doncaster city centre is “disgusting” with “empty shops, homeless and beggars in the doorways”.
He said the city needs “real change” and promised to have a cabinet with many parties if elected.
David Bettney promised to bring international trade to Doncaster, drawing on his experience running a security company after leaving the armed forces.
He said his vision was to create a global Doncaster to compete with “India and China” for business.
Independent candidate Richie Vallance was due to attend, but said on social media he missed the event due to the “short notice” provided.
The publication of the list of candidates on Thursday morning revealed a total of 12 people were running to be mayor of Doncaster.
Aside from those already mentioned, this includes Mihai Melenciuc of the Liberal Democrats, Julie Buckley for the Green Party, Jamil Ahsan for the Workers Party of Britain and Andrew Walmsley for the Yorkshire Party.