All the candidates have been named for the Bilton & Nidd Gorge county council by-election on May 6.
The election is taking place following the death of Liberal Democrat Geoff Webber.
The six candidates are all hoping to join Conservative Paul Haslam as the second North Yorkshire County Council councillor for the ward.
The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Yorkshire Party all said on Friday that they would pause campaigning as a mark of respect for Prince Phillip.
The candidates are below:
Liberal Democrats
Andrew Kempston-Parkes has previously served as a councillor for Bilton on Harrogate Borough Council. He is a local businessman and is the managing director of a chartered surveying firm.
He said:
“The Bilton & Nidd Gorge division is a very special community to me. As Bilton’s councillor, I worked hard to not only protect green space, but also to invest in it.”
Conservatives
Cllr Matt Scott has represented the Bilton Woodfield ward on Harrogate Borough Council since 2018 and works in Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones’ office. He has lived in Bilton all his life.
He said:
“I will work hard to ensure we continue to have great schools, safe neighbourhoods and that our valuable green spaces remain untouched.”
Harrogate & District Green Party
Arnold Warneken was a Green HBC councillor in the 1990s and went to school in Bilton. He is a partner in an organic horticulture & food distribution business.
He said:
“Local councils must have our climate in mind as we build the economy back after Covid.”
Labour
Tyler Reeton is the youngest candidate at 19 years old and lives in Bilton. He works in retail and recently set up a community Facebook page for the Bilton area.
He said:
“I’m young but it doesn’t mean I have any less passion for the area.”
Yorkshire Party
John Hall has lived in Yorkshire all his life and moved to the Harrogate area over 6 years ago.
He said:
“Unfortunately, the party does not yet have a Biltonian which I appreciate would have been an advantage. So I have a lot of catching up to do. However, if elected this will be easily overcome by working closely with the community.”
Independent
Harvey Alexander is standing as an independent. He contested the Bilton Woodfield HBC seat for UKIP in 2018.
Read more:
- Bilton residents frightened to leave homes due to anti-social behaviour
- Bilton by-election on May 6 after death of councillor
The Conservative-controlled county council currently has 53 Conservative councillors, four Labour councillors and four representing the Liberal Democrats. There are also eight North Yorkshire Independent and three independent councillors.
When the Bilton & Nidd Gorge seat was last run in 2017, Conservative Paul Haslam and Liberal Democrat Geoff Webber won the ward’s two seats with 1,618 and 1,414 votes respectively.
Liberal Democrat Mark McDermid came third with 1,285 votes and Conservative Graham Swift was fourth with 1,207 votes.
