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Jun
Pro-life candidate finally launches campaign in Harrogate and Knaresborough
The final elusive candidate hoping to win the Harrogate and Knaresborough seat at the general election on July 4 finally entered the race in earnest today, more than two weeks after his rivals.
Running for the first time, Stephen Metcalfe, an independent, was a surprise addition to the roster of candidates in the constituency, and initially made no move to publicise his campaign.
The official list of candidates showed only that he lives at an “address in the Wetherby and Easingwold constituency”, and repeated attempts by the Stray Ferret to track him down went unanswered.
But he has now contacted us and apologised for the delay, saying he had been waiting for leaflets to be printed. He said:
I didn’t really want to [launch the campaign] until the literature was out, because I didn’t want to talk in a vacuum.
He is having leaflets delivered to every household in the constituency from today.
Mr Metcalfe, who lives in Aldborough, near Boroughbridge, is a semi-retired farmer and an elder at Starbeck Mission, an evangelical church in Harrogate. He had decided to stand because he was concerned about the teaching of relationship, health and sex education (RHSE) to young children in schools. He would like to see a “return to Christian values”.
His leaflet states that "our nation is in crisis” and is “reaping the serious consequences of pushing God out of our lives”.
It adds:
New scientific discoveries increasingly prove that we and the universe did not happen by accident but that we are wonderfully designed and made by God.
No references to the scientific discoveries are provided. It continues:
Deep down people know that God made them and that there is a coming judgement.
Part of Mr Metcalfe's leaflet.
The leaflet also has sections on mental health, abortion – Mr Metcalfe is against it – and Israel, whose existence after a 2,000-year hiatus “shows that the Bible is true”.
Asked what he had planned for his election campaign, he said that it would consist of the Royal Mail leaflet drop “and possibly a rally”, but added he would need to speak to the police first.
He also said he would be holding a pro-life rally at Knaresborough Castle from 7pm on Thursday (June 27), and described it as a "peaceful celebration of Christian values".
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