Election square-up in cradle of the civil war

Reform's champ boxer aims to KO Tories in Hull election

- Christian Calgie

REFORM and the Tories are lining up for a pitched battle in next month's local elections - on the site of one of the key events which sparked the English Civil War.

The race to be the first metro mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire is tipped to be one of the most closely fought contests on May 1.

Reform's chief Nigel Farage picked local boxing celebrity Luke Campbell to take the fight to the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems, calling on voters to help "make history".

But Tory leader Kemi Badenoch will be given a major boost if Anne Handley, the Tory leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, sweeps to victory in this sprawling patch of countryside, city and coastline in North East England.

Heartlands

Hull earned its own place in history in 1642 when its military governor Sir John Hotham refused King Charles I entry to the town with its vital arsenal during his disputes with Parliament which soon afterwards erupted into the English Civil War.

Fast forward to the area's latest battle and bookies suggest the Hull and East Yorkshire stand-off is on course to be a close-run thing.