Sir Ed Davey’s victory in the Liberal Democrat leadership contest could help the party take back control of Harrogate & Knaresborough, according to the party’s local parliamentary spokesperson Judith Rogerson.

Mr Davey, the MP for Kingston and Surbiton, won the leadership election yesterday ahead of Layla Moran, receiving 63.5% of the vote. In his acceptance speech, he said the party would now launch a “national listening project” to try and win back voters.

Ms Rogerson said Mr Davey has been “very supportive” of what the party has been doing in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

She said:

“He is absolutely the right person to be leading the party and helping us win back seats from the Conservatives at the next election, especially here in Harrogate & Knaresborough.”

Under Phil Willis – now Lord Willis of Knaresborough – the Lib Dems held the Harrogate & Knaresborough constituency from 1997 until 2010. Last month, Lord Willis spoke to the Stray Ferret about a range of topics, including what he think makes a good constituency MP.

Read more:

• Harrogate homelessness figures show need for eviction ban extension, say Lib Dems

• Exclusive: Ex-MP Phil Willis on how Harrogate can thrive again

Since Lord Willis retired, current Conservative MP Andrew Jones has won four consecutive general elections in the constituency.

In the 2019 general election, Mr Jones won 29,962 votes beating Lib Dem candidate Ms Rogerson by almost 10,000 votes. The Lib Dems did gain a 12 point swing since 2017, which largely came at the expense of the Labour Party.