A Liberal Democrat activist has questioned the selection process that has resulted a shortlist of just two for the party’s prospective parliamentary candidate.
The party member, who asked not to be named, said he didn’t feel either was the right person to stand at the next general election.
He said choosing between the two by the end of the month was going to be very hard.
The two candidates in question are Matt Walker, who is a Liberal Democrat councillor representing West Knaresborough on North Yorkshire Council, and Wakefield-based Tom Gordon.
Speaking about Mr Walker, the activist said he feared he was not up to the task of debating policy and standing up to opponents, including the current MP and his constituency office manager and Harrogate Borough Council leader, Richard Cooper.
He said:
“I would not want to put him in the business community. He wouldn’t be able to stand up to questioning.
“If he was somewhere with Andrew Jones or Richard Cooper, he would be eaten alive. He wouldn’t know where to turn.
“It would be a blood bath, Matt Walker and Richard Cooper in the same hustings. He just isn’t capable of it.
“I wouldn’t want to send him to meet people on Duchy Road. He just doesn’t have the kerb appeal.
“As a candidate, he just doesn’t excite me.”
However, the party activist was no more inspired by the other candidate.
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Tom Gordon is the Liberal Democrat group leader on Wakefield Council, representing the Knottingley Ward.
He previously stood in the Batley and Spen by-election in 2021, coming fourth with 1,254 votes. Labour’s Kim Leadbeater won 13,296 votes, the Conservatives had 12,973, and George Galloway, standing for the Workers Party, got 8,264.
The Liberal Democrat activist said he was not concerned about this result, because the party “wouldn’t have expected to do well”, or by Mr Gordon not being from the local area. However, he said it was hard to know whether to vote for him because he did not have a local track record.
He added:
“If you are good and you’ve got credibility, you can work on that. We’ve got probably a couple of years before an election. You need somebody that people will sit up and take notice.
“He is a bit of an unknown quantity.”
The activist said he compared the candidates to previous Liberal Democrat MP Phil Willis – now Lord Willis of Knaresborough – and to the most recent PPC, Judith Rogerson, both of whom were willing and able to stand up to the opposition on local issues.
Previous Lib Dem PPC Judith Rogerson and former MP Phil Willis
Last year, the selection process was halted part-way through when Harrogate and Knaresborough was listed as a ‘target seat’ by the national party. At that point, a longer shortlist had been produced.
The activist said although he understood there was a shortlisting process before members were given the chance to vote, he wanted to know how the final two had been chosen in this case.
He added:
“There’s a question to ask about what has gone on. I would have hoped there would be more, with the publicity we had about it being a target seat.”
The Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats have defended their selection process and both candidates following the criticism. A spokesperson said:
“After a routine and rigorous process which involved an application and approval round, local Liberal Democrat members will shortly be able to vote for their next prospective parliamentary candidate.
“Either of the current candidates will be a strong voice for Harrogate and Knaresborough, fighting for a fair deal against the Conservatives who’ve taken our area for granted for years.”
