Shadows fall on Conservatives in their Harrogate heartland

In the last two months, local Conservatives have mourned the loss of the mayoral election and now of their MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough.

The count for the mayoral election was tense, due to the uncertainty over whether Labour's David Skaith or Tory Keane Duncan would win.

By contrast, a sense of inevitability hung in the air at Harrogate Convention Centre during the general election count.

Lib Dem frontrunner Tom Gordon was buzzing around in a blue suit and trainers from the start. By contrast, Andrew Jones made a low-key entrance hours later and didn’t move far from the table colonised by his Conservative colleagues.

The BBC exit poll removed any remnants of hope and senior Tories rolled their eyes when asked about their prospects.

Labour supporters gleefully watched the big screen coverage of their national triumph but the party was very much a sideshow here, finishing fourth behind Reform UK and polling just 8%. 

Labour's Conrad Whitcroft was never seriously in the running. While the energetic Mr Gordon and his team have rattled more letterboxes than the Royal Mail, Mr Whitcroft combined canvassing with his day job for an insurance company and his duties as a City of York councillor. He even went to work on polling day before heading to Harrogate to hear the result.

General elections may be won on national issues but having a local party machine makes a huge difference, and the Lib Dems threw the kitchen sink at this one.

The Greens, who focused their efforts on Wetherby and Easingwold, lost their deposit while independents Paul Haslam and Stephen Metcalfe made little impression.

Mr Gordon’s victory was greeted by whoops of delight from Lib Dem supporters. The result means this once solid blue area now has a Labour government and mayor, a Lib Dem MP and a Conservative council, which should make things interesting. If that wasn’t enough politics, we are likely to get another election next year for a new Harrogate town council.

For years, Mr Jones and many of his fellow local Tories declined to talk to the Stray Ferret while local Lib Dems were happy to do so. But the situation has reversed in recent months, and last night Mr Gordon declined to talk to the Stray Ferret, just as his colleague Andrew Timothy did when he won the Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone by-election on North Yorkshire Council in April.

Mr Jones, like Mr Duncan in the mayoral election, was gracious in defeat and talked about taking time off and watching Yorkshire play cricket. 

At 60, he is twice the age of Mr Gordon and it was difficult to avoid the sense that stumps had been drawn on a long political chapter.

If you've enjoyed reading this article, why not take out a subscription? For more informed and impartial political news and analysis, as well as everything else on the Stray Ferret website, click here.