The Liberal Democrats have selected Andrew Timothy as their candidate for the Stray, Woodlands, and Hookstone by-election in Harrogate on April 11.
The Lib Dems will be defending the seat on North Yorkshire Council won by Pat Marsh in 2022. She resigned last week after making antisemitic posts on X, formerly Twitter.
A party press release announcing the news said Mr Timothy “has a strong record of local campaigning across the area, having knocked on hundreds of doors working alongside Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough”.
It added he was a scientist who works locally as a lab analyst and lives on Leeds Road. He volunteers as a local church steward, and enjoys pub quizzes.
Mr Timothy said:
“As your councillor, I will fight tirelessly to give people a strong voice here in Harrogate and in Northallerton.
“This is a beautiful and iconic part of our town, with a strong sense of community. We need an independent voice who will listen to concerns and stand up for local people.
“People tell me our area deserves a fair deal. They tell me that the new North Yorkshire Council, created by the Conservatives, just isn’t working.
“They have left our roads to crumble, removed much needed public bins, and are cutting back on services across the board. Simply put they have taken our area for granted.”
Yesterday the Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative Association announced it had selected John Ennis to stand in the division.
At the 2022 election,Mr Ennis received 35% of the votes to finish runner-up behind Ms Marsh, who polled 52%.
Read more:
- Lib Dem mayor candidate pledges emergency food poverty measures
- Tories name candidate for Harrogate by-election
- How an anti-semitism row left Harrogate and Knaresborough Lib Dems in disarray
