Conservatives choose candidate for Mayor of York and North Yorkshire

The Conservatives have elected their candidate for the new position of Mayor of York and North Yorkshire.

Keane Duncan, currently the executive member for highways and transportation at North Yorkshire Council, will now stand to be the first mayor of the combined authority.

Duncan was one of three candidates on the shortlist for Conservative Party candidate.

The other two were York entrepreneur and former chair of the York Conservatives Matt Freckelton, and current police and fire commissioner Zoë Metcalfe.

Duncan, from Malton and a graduate of the University of York, is a journalist who became the youngest councillor in the history of North Yorkshire County Council when he was elected in the Norton ward in 2017.

He was leader of Ryedale District Council from May 2019 to February 2021.

Duncan tweeted: “I’m officially the Conservatives candidate, campaigning to become the first Mayor of York and North Yorkshire. I could not be prouder.

“This is my home and I’ll be fighting every day to deliver results.”