Green Party selects candidate for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election

The Green Party has announced its candidate for the upcoming Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election.

Bob Ensch, who has been a member of the party for four years, is now retired but has a background in the construction industry, having most recently worked as a director at local company Morgan Sindall.

The 66-year-old has lived in South Cambridgeshire for around 35 years, but says he wants the people of Peterborough to feel represented too.

Mr Ensch said: “I have done a bit of work in Peterborough and I have a few contacts up there. One of the things I’m very clear about is that it is a very different place from Cambridge and its issues are different.

“There is more deprivation in Peterborough and obviously a big Eastern European community and Muslim community, which is quite different from the demographic of the area I live in.

“I’ve got meetings with my Green Party colleagues in Peterborough in the next few days to learn more about what their key issues are so that I can speak to those when I’m campaigning in Peterborough.”

Mr Ensch added: “The Green Party stands for working people and the people that are less well-off. I think that a lot of the focus, unfortunately, in the south of [Cambridgeshire] is around the big growth agenda which speaks to people already well-off and wealthy.

“Whereas the north of the region is getting underrepresented. If there is going to be any growth we need to make sure it is geared more towards the people that need help and are less advantaged than those in the south of the region.

“I’m keen to look into what policies I can develop in the campaign that address that and speak to that community.”

Mr Ensch says he is keen to stay out of any political “cut and thrust” during his campaign.

Coming from a non-political background, he says his campaign will take a “different” approach to the other candidates.

“One of the things that I have become aware of is that nobody trusts politicians. I really don’t want to be somebody seen like that,” he said.

“I’ve run a regional operation of a big business and been responsible for a turnover of £100 million plus at one time in my career, employing 150 odd people.

“I understand how to run a business and the way the combined authority is set up is more like that so I think I can personally offer leadership and management skills.”

Mr Ensch is currently a non-executive director at a not-for-profit business called TrAC that employs and trains construction apprentices. In addition, he is also the programme lead for FutureIN, an initiative dedicated to inspiring and upskilling young people in the construction industry.

Mr Ensch is also involved in a number of organisations that help homeless people, including as a trustee at It Takes A City which provides modular houses for the homeless.

One of his key messages for his upcoming campaign is to “build a region that not only thrives economically, but also leads the way in environmental innovation and social progress”.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority mayoral election will take place on May 1.

The other confirmed candidates are Paul Bristow (Conservative), Lorna Dupre (Liberal Democrat) and Anna Smith (Labour).