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24
Apr
Cost of Ripon’s divisive parish poll finally revealed
The cost of a parish poll that caused acrimony in Ripon last year and even led to questions in Parliament has finally been revealed.
Parishioners can request a parish poll to gauge opinion on an issue. They are triggered when 10 people call for one at a parish meeting, but the outcome is not legally binding.
Only four have been held in North Yorkshire since April 1, 2023.
Ripon held one on November 27 after 13 people called for a vote of confidence in Councillor Barbara Brodigan.
Cllr Brodigan had been elected mayor two months earlier after previous mayor Cllr Jackie Crozier resigned in the face of a vote of no confidence.
Supporters of Cllr Brodigan initially claimed the poll could cost Riponians between £10,000 and £20,000.
North Yorkshire Council’s electoral services manager later said the cost was “likely to be somewhere between £5,000 and £7,000”.
A freedom of information request by the Stray Ferret has now revealed the precise sum was £3,745.10.
This included £1,918.64 on staff, £981.46 on printing and £854 on hiring the polling station.
'Waste of money'
Barbara Brodigan with the Sergeant-at-Mace after her final monthly meeting as mayor on April 13, 2026.
Cllr Brodigan lost by 317 to 271 votes on a turnout of 4.66% but she pledged to carry on.
The Liberal Democrat branded the exercise a “waste of money” at the time and her views had not changed when she was asked to comment on the cost of the poll this week.
She said it was a “waste of public money on something that is undemocratic and constitutionally questionable” because she had been democratically elected as a councillor.
In the wake of the poll, Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough asked ministers to legislate to strengthen trigger thresholds and prevent the “misuse” of parish polls.
Mr Gordon told the Stray Ferret at the time:
It is disappointing to see a recent nearby parish poll used as a mechanism to attack a sitting councillor, when we have regularly scheduled elections where people get a chance to case their vote on who represents them.
Brian McHugh
Value for money 'subjective'
Asked about the cost, Mr McHugh said:
It is good that the truth about the cost of the parish poll last year is now being exposed by the Stray Ferret. Some of the repeated exaggerated numbers by supporters of the then mayor, were sadly divisive and not based on fact.
Parish polls clearly are a little used process, but they still exist as a legislative process for local communities to meet and decide on productive outcomes.
He added the £3,745.10 cost divided by the 12,696 number of potential electors worked out at about 30p each, adding:
I don't believe that this is too high a price to pay for a legal and democratic process. If anything, we should celebrate the fact that for such a low cost per person, people had an opportunity to voice their level of confidence in the sitting mayor.
As a counter example, the decision over what to do with the mayor's lamppost is still ongoing and when that is moved, the cost is close to £6,799, as the Stray Ferret reported last year. At the time, some Ripon residents felt that that was not value for money, but simply an outdated and ostentatious symbol.
Sadly, I feel that what is 'value for money' is subjective. If people agree with a proposal, then they see the value in it. On the other hand, if people disagree with a proposal, they claim it is a 'waste of taxpayer's money’.
Cllr Brodigan’s term as mayor will end next month. Cllr Andrew Williams, who leads the Independent Putting Ripon Before Party Politics group, will succeed her.
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