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19
May
Ripon leader joins Conservative Party
Andrew Williams, the leader of Ripon City Council who also represents Ripon on North Yorkshire Council, has joined the Conservative Party.
Cllr Williams was elected to Ripon City Council in 2022 as an Independent under the banner ‘Putting Ripon Before Party Politics’.
He won a landslide victory in the North Yorkshire County Council election on the same day standing as an Independent in Ripon Minster and Moorside.
In July 2023, he was one of three Independents who helped to secure the Tory majority on the county council, which by then had been renamed North Yorkshire Council, by joining a new Conservatives and Independents Group.
Cllr Barbara Brodigan, a Liberal Democrat who represents Ripon Ure Bank and Spa, claimed at the time he was a “Tory puppet” under the control of council leader Carl Les.
Cllr Williams replied to say the new political grouping would ensure “stable governance” and he would retain his independence. “Nobody has their hand up my backside,” he said at the time.
Cllr Williams pictured at the county council election count in 2022.
Register of interests
Various sources, including from within the Conservative Party, told the Stray Ferret Cllr Williams had joined the Tories some months ago and not declared it.
We contacted him on multiple ocassions last week asking when and why he joined the party and why his councillor page had not been updated to state this.
Cllr Williams has not replied but the register of interests on his North Yorkshire councillor page was subsequently updated to say he was a member of Skipton and Ripon Conservative Association.
Cllr Andrew Murday, a Liberal Democrat who represents Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale on North Yorkshire Council, said it was incumbent on councillors to make their political affiliation known.
He said:
When people vote for somebody, they have a right to know who they represent. Some argue if they change affiliation they should stand down for a by-election.
We asked Cllr Les if he could clarify when Cllr Williams joined the Conservatives and whether councillors were obliged to declare political affiliations.
He replied:
Membership of a political party is a personal matter, as is keeping a register of interests up to date. My responsibility is to maintain a list of members of the political grouping I lead, of which Cllr Williams is one, and that list is updated immediately anybody joins or leaves the group.
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