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06
Jan 2023
Conservatives select candidate for crucial Masham and Fountains by-election
The Conservative Party has picked its candidate for the upcoming North Yorkshire County Council by-election for the Masham and Fountains division.
The by-election follows the death of long-serving Conservative councillor Margaret Atkinson in November.
Last month the Stray Ferret revealed Felicity Cunliffe-Lister will stand for the Liberal Democrats.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service now understands Brooke Hull will be the candidate for the Conservatives.
The candidates have not been officially confirmed yet as nominations close on January 13. Voters in the division, which includes the villages of Kirkby Malzeard, will go to the polls on February 9.
The winning councillor will sit on the new North Yorkshire Council from April 1 and the result will be significant for the balance of power in Northallerton.
The Conservatives currently control the council with 47 councillors, giving them a majority of four. A Liberal Democrat victory would reduce the Tories’ majority to just two.
Read more:
- Kirkby Malzeard councillor Margaret Atkinson dies
- Swinton estate owner to stand against Tories in key Masham by-election
Ms Hull is campaign manager for the Skipton and Ripon Conservative Party and is the wife of Conservative councillor for Washburn and Birstwith division, Nathan Hull. They have five children together and live in Burnt Yates.
Ms Cunliffe-Lister, a former lawyer, is the owner of Swinton Estate.
When the seat was last contested in May 2022, Cllr Atkinson was elected with 1,076 votes.
Ms Cunliffe-Lister stood as an independent and came second with 738 votes. Liberal Democrat candidate Judith Hooper was third with 620 votes.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has asked both the Skipton and Ripon Labour Party and the Green Party if they will be nominating candidates but we did not receive a response by the time of publication.
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