Editor’s Pick of the Week: Who needs elections when you’ve got a local Tory leadership row?

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It was just as well there weren’t any local elections on our patch this week, as they would only have got in the way of all the politics.

In an extraordinary week, a ballot for the Conservative Party leadership in North Yorkshire was aborted when councillors couldn’t decide who was eligible to vote.

The Tories also had to contend with another defection to Reform UK by a councillor who is believed to have been the party’s chief whip tasked with finding councillors who were thinking of defecting to Reform.

After Wednesday's non-vote, Conservative leader Cllr Carl Les hotfooted it from Northallerton to Ripon to see Cllr Andrew Williams, a fellow member of the Conservative and Independents group, elected Mayor of Ripon.

Even this wasn’t straightforward: civic mayors are usually elected unanimously as the role is largely ceremonial and non-political, but in this case four councillors abstained, prompting a cry of ‘shame’.

Things were more convivial in Harrogate, where cycling GP Dr Viv Poskitt was installed mayor after just a year in local politics. Former crime commissioner Zoe Metcalfe got the mayoral gig in Boroughbridge.

If it was a difficult week for the Tories, spare a thought for Labour. Annihilated at the polls, even its North Yorkshire mayor David Skaith said the country was in a mess. Days earlier Mr Skaith gave a surprisingly frank appreciation of Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, widely considered a leadership challenger to Keir Starmer, in an interview marking the mid-term of his mayoralty.

It wasn’t a good week for Harrogate Town either who lost their final match of the season and were relegated to the National League. Just to make matters worse, York City were promoted from the National League. How long until Town lord it over The Minstermen again?

Fresh doubts were cast over the future of Harrogate’s main Post Office this week when TG Jones announced mass closures in a move that could also affect Ripon.

Local businesses face many challenges, including the state of the roads. A Stray Ferret freedom of information investigation this week revealed the pothole-ridden roads here lead to higher insurance payouts than the rest of North Yorkshire Council’s area put together, which Harrogate's chamber of commerce leader highlighted as another issue for traders to contend with.

No matter how trying the week has been, the prospect of balmy summer days in beautiful gardens is upon us. Yes, Open Gardens season has begun, to remind us that there is nowhere better to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon than in the villages of the Harrogate district, sipping a drink and admiring the view. Idyllic is the word.