The Labour Party has designated Harrogate and Knaresborough as a “non-battleground” seat at the next election.

The party published a list online of 211 seats which it considers to be non-target constituencies.

Among them is Harrogate and Knaresborough, as well Skipton and Ripon, both of which are currently held by Conservative MPs.

Local Liberal Democrats have claimed the move means the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency will be a “two horse race” at the next election.

Tom Gordon, Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said:

“This constituency will be a two horse race between the Liberal Democrats and a desperately out of touch Conservative party.

“Even Labour have now admitted they cannot win here. The Liberal Democrats are on a winning streak locally, as people send this government a message.”

The Stray Ferret has approached the Harrogate and Knaresborough Labour Party, which has yet to name a parliamentary candidate, for comment.

It comes as speculation over the date of the next general election has increased amid continued infighting in government.

Andrew Jones, Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, has been selected to fight the seat for the Tories again.

He is aiming for a fifth straight election win in the constituency at the next election.

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Reform UK has announced its prospective parliamentary candidates for Harrogate and Knaresborough and Ripon and Skipton.

The right-wing party was founded as the Brexit Party with support from Nigel Farage in 2018.

It was renamed in 2021 and is now led by Richard Tice.

Reform UK has said it will field candidates in every constituency at the next general election, which must take place within the next 18 months.

It has selected Richard Brown to contest Harrogate and Knaresborough and Simon Garvey to stand in Ripon and Skipton. The seats are currently held by Conservatives Andrew Jones and Julian Smith respectively.

We spoke to both candidates, neither of whom has stood for political office before.

Harrogate Station Gateway ‘ridiculous’

Mr Brown (pictured), an accountant from Harrogate, said he believed local authorities should be more open and accountable.

He described the £11.9 million Harrogate Station Gateway initiative as “ridiculous” and accused the council of wasting public money on schemes most people didn’t want. He cited the £10,000 spent on a fountain in Valley Gardens as another example.

Being an accountant, he said he’d “like to see the figures” before forming a view on what should happen to Harrogate Convention Centre, which has unsuccessfully sought funds for a £49 million upgrade.

Mr Brown said he decided to put his name forward after attending some Reform UK meetings and being “impressed by the quality of people”.

Many Reform UK members had Conservative or UKIP backgrounds, he said, but he hadn’t voted consistently for any party since the days of Margaret Thatcher. He said he voted for the Conservatives at the last election to achieve Brexit.

He said:

“My clients have always told me I should stand as an MP. I thought maybe that’s an itch I ought to scratch.”

Mr Brown said he wasn’t campaigning to make up the numbers. He said people were disillusioned with the Tories and not impressed by Labour or the Liberal Democrats and there was an opportunity to appeal to disaffected Tories.

He said he hoped Reform UK would have a “Berlin Wall moment” by shocking the established political parties and winning in places such as Harrogate and Knaresborough.

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‘I backed Boris to get Brexit done”

Simon Garvey (pictured) said he was a mainstream Conservative with no political ambitions who decided to stand because of recent political developments.

Mr Garvey, who lives with his wife and children in Ripon, said:

“I backed Boris to get Brexit done and feel disenfranchised now after Boris was ousted. If Liz Truss was given a chance I would have backed her too as she was chosen by the membership but from a democracy standpoint I don’t feel I can support Rishi Sunak as I don’t think you can have un-elected leaders.”

Mr Garvey has a background in education. Besides teaching in Ripon, he set up Inclusive Learning Systems to develop software for schools.

He cites education, and “good teachers being forced out of the system”, as one of his main concerns, along with the drive to carbon net zero, which he said had affected many people financially.

Mr Garvey said:

“We had an open goal with Brexit. Boris could have led us to a great place financially. But forces outside the political sphere are influencing where the country is heading.”

He predicted if the opinion polls were correct and Labour won the next election, many voters would turn to Reform UK at the following election out of disillusionment with both Labour and the Tories.

The Liberal Democrats have chosen Tom Gordon as their prospective parliamentary candidate in Harrogate and Knaresborough at the next general election.

The selection was confirmed at the local party’s annual dinner last night, following a ballot of its members in January.

Mr Gordon has campaigned for the Liberal Democrats around the country and supported Judith Rogerson in Harrogate and Knaresborough at the last general election.

He works as an advisor for a national carers charity, was born and raised in Yorkshire, and previously stood for the Lib Dems in the Batley and Spen by-election in 2021.

In a statement the Lib Dems said Mr Gordon had stood up for local health services, fought for Yorkshire devolution and for better transport links across the region.   The party said he would be “running a passionate campaign to improve health services, tackle sewage and uncleanliness in our local environment and fighting for infrastructure and investment into our local services”.

Mr Gordon stood against Lib Dem Knaresborough West councillor Matt Walker in the contest.

The selection process has been lengthy for the party, having initially begun last June. It was abandoned two months later when the constituency was made a “target seat” by the national party.

Phil Willis, Lib Dem MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough from 1997 until 2010, welcomed Tom Gordon’s selection:

“Tom would make a fantastic Member of Parliament for Harrogate and Knaresborough. I have seen first hand how passionate he is about delivering change for local people across the region and know he will be a strong voice standing up for the constituency.

“Across the country, people are turning to the Liberal Democrats to oust out of touch Conservative MPs. People are fed up with being taken for granted by the Conservative party and I’ve heard this loud and clear from people across Harrogate and Knaresborough.”

Tom Gordon said:

“I am truly honoured to have been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough. As your next MP, I will fight tirelessly to give local people a strong voice, both here and in Westminster.

“This is a beautiful and iconic part of the country with a strong sense of community. We need an independent voice who will listen to concerns and stand up for local people.

“People tell me our area deserves a fair deal. I’ll be the candidate that champions our area, standing up for local health services, tackling sewage in our rivers and demanding action on the cost of living crisis.

“Residents in our area deserve better than chaos and incompetence that we see in Westminster at the moment. At the next election here, it will be a choice between four more years of a Conservative government taking them for granted or a Liberal Democrat MP being your local champion.”

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The Green Party is the only other party to have announced its PPC for Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Paul Ko Ferrigno has lived in Harrogate since 2007 and is involved in several community football teams as well as being a governor at Oatlands Junior School.

Meanwhile, the local Labour party has been going through the national selection procedure to find its candidate.

The Conservatives have not yet confirmed whether current MP Andrew Jones will stand to be elected in the constituency for the fifth time since 2010.

There has been no word on candidates for parties in Skipton and Ripon, where Julian Smith has been the Conservative MP since 2010.

The Selby and Ainsty Conservative MP, Nigel Adams, has already announced he will stand down at the next election.

His seat looks likely to be broken up in the constituency shake-up being carried out by the Boundary Commission, though this will not be confirmed until later in the year.

A general election must be held by January 24, 2025, at the latest.

Liz Truss may have only just entered Downing Street but opposition parties in Harrogate and Knaresborough have begun manoeuvrings for the next general election.

This week the Green Party became the first to name its prospective parliamentary candidate. The Liberal Democrats are expected to follow suit by the end of the year.

Conservative Andrew Jones has won four successive elections in Harrogate and Knaresborough since 2010, securing 53% of the vote at the last campaign in 2019.

The next election is widely expected to take place in 2024 — and some think his biggest threat comes from opposition parties working together rather than splitting the vote. But the early signs are this is unlikely to happen.

There was little appetite for a pact at a Green Party hustings event this week. Paul Ko Ferrigno, the only candidate standing for leadership, insisted he was fighting to win, and even if he didn’t he was more interested in shaping the debate than doing deals.

Asked if he was willing to risk letting the Tories in with this approach, Mr Ko Ferrigno said:

“Yes — but if what I’ve done is shift the conversation so the next time round the Tories are being more green in their approach, more forward in their approach, because of the way we have been campaigning, then that’s OK.”

The Greens still harbour ill feeling from the last election, when their candidate, Shan Oakes, stood down.

Green Party members at this week’s hustings.

Arnold Warneken, who represents Ouseburn for the Greens on North Yorkshire County Council, told this week’s meeting:

“We had a national agreement with Lib Dems. Shan agreed to stand aside. The problem with that is you have to trust the people you deal with.

“The trust for us has disappeared. That’s not good for a future progressive alliance.”

Cllr Warneken added, however, that a final decision on pacts would be taken locally.

Labour and Lib Dems

The Stray Ferret asked Chris Watt, vice-chair, Harrogate & Knaresborough Labour Party, which took 11% of the vote in 2019, if it would consider an opposition pact. He replied:

“Being a much larger party, Labour operates a national system with local parties making the final decision on their candidate.”

Mr Watt added Harrogate and Knaresborough Labour “have asked to move forward with selecting a candidate as soon as possible”.

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The process to select a Liberal Democrat candidate is being re-run after the national Lib Dems upgraded Harrogate and Knaresborough to a target seat.

“I’m hoping to have the procedures completed Christmas time.”

Harrogate and District Green Party is set to name Paul Ko Ferrigno as its prospective parliamentary candidate for the next general election.

Mr Ko Ferrigno was one of two people nominated but the other contender, Arnold Warneken, withdrew.

The party is holding an election hustings event tonight when Mr Ko Ferrigno will outline his vision.

Members will have the opportunity to ask questions before deciding whether to ratify his selection as PPC.

Tonight’s hustings, which is open to everyone, will take place at the Friends Meeting House on Queen Parade at 7.30pm.

The Friends Meeting House

It is hoped the process to select a candidate will be finalised before the Green Party autumn conference begins in Harrogate on September 30.

Mr Ko Ferrigno, 59, a scientist, told the Stray Ferret he had been a “passive supporter of the Green Party” for many years and a party member for two years.

Born in London, he lived in France for a decade from the age of 10 and has lived in Harrogate since 2007.

Mr Ko Ferrigno is a football referee, and has widespread volunteering experience as a coach for Pannal Ash Junior Football Club, a welfare officer on Harrogate and District Junior Football League and a governor at Oatlands Junior School in Harrogate.

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He said he wanted to see more taxis and fewer cars and greater support for cycling, including measures to encourage cycling couriers to replace vans. He said:

“Harrogate is seen as being the Bettys of the country. Let’s live up to that reputation by doing everything well.”

The Green Party did not field a candidate in Harrogate and Knaresborough in the 2019 general election, when Conservative Andrew Jones retained the seat with 53% of the vote.

Asked whether the Greens would consider stepping aside as part of a pact with other parties, Mr Ko Ferrigno said “it’s a conversation to be had” but added:

“I’m not one of those who think we need to get the Conservatives out at all costs. We need to elect the right candidate

“Having a Green in any conversation makes a difference. Recycling started as a Green Party conversation.

“What we will do by standing is shift the conversation. Even if I don’t get elected — and I hope I will — we will move the conversation.”

The Liberal Democrats would win Harrogate and Knaresborough if a general election was held tomorrow, according to polling firm YouGov.

The company has published modelling based on 64 ‘blue wall’ Conservative-Liberal Democrat battleground seats.

The seats were chosen because they were won by the Conservatives at the 2019 general election but the Liberal Democrats received above 20% of the vote.

YouGov predicts the Conservatives would retain 38 seats, the Liberal Democrats would win 24 and Labour would win two.

Among those forecast to fall is Andrew Jones’ seat, which he won with a majority of 9,675 in 2019, relegating the Liberal Democrats to second.

YouGov predicts the Liberal Democrats would get 43% of the vote in Harrogate and Knaresborough, compared with 39% for the Conservatives and 9% for Labour.

It comes days after Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey pledged to make Harrogate and Knaresborough a target seat during a visit to Harrogate.

The polling says the Conservatives would also lose seats belonging to deputy prime minister Dominic Raab and former leadership contender Jeremy Hunt to the Liberal Democrats.

The company said in a statement:

“Although constituencies would fall to the Liberal Democrats all across the country, including Harrogate and Knaresborough in the north and South Cambridgeshire in the east, perhaps the most striking losses come in the south west, where we estimate that the Conservative vote share is down by over 16 points on 2019.

“Many more Conservative seats are close to being flipped: no fewer than 11 of the 38 predicted holds would be retained by a margin of less than five points. “

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The only Con-Lib Dem battlegrounds region where Labour have increased their vote share on 2019 is in London, where they are up by three points.

In all other regions their vote share in these battleground seats is down – despite Labour’s vote intention being around six to nine points higher than the 32% they managed at the last election.

The Liberal Democrats are set to make Harrogate and Knaresborough a target seat at the next General Election.

On a visit to Harrogate today, party leader Sir Ed Davey MP told the Stray Ferret the Conservatives had taken local people for granted.

Sir Ed, who was also speaking at the Local Government Association conference at Harrogate Convention Centre, said he would be returning to Harrogate and Knaresborough personally in the run up to the next election.

He said:

“We are going to be working as hard as possible to win this seat. I’m really looking forward to the new candidate being selected very soon.

“I’ll be up here working with them so that we do win this seat.”

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Sir Ed said the Lib Dems’ agenda included tax cuts to tackle the cost of living, better healthcare and “getting tough” on water companies that pump sewage into rivers.

Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, holds a majority of 9,675 in the constituency.

He has been re-elected three times since winning the seat in 2010.

When pressed on how he could be so confident of winning the seat when voters in Harrogate and Knaresborough have returned a Conservative to Westminster for the last 12 years, he said:

“The Conservatives have taken the people of Harrogate for granted.

“We’re going to work hard to earn their votes. One of my criticisms of Conservative MPs is that they have taken their local areas for granted. It has got to stop.

“We will work tirelessly to listen to the communities, to take up their concerns and be their local champion.”

Last week the Lib Dems overturned a 24,239 majority to gain a seat from the Conservatives in the Tiverton and Honiton.

Besides Harrogate and Knaresborough, the party is also expected to focus on Tory marginals such as Cheltenham and Wimbledon, according to iNews.

The Stray Ferret has approached Mr Jones for comment.

The former prospective parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats has announced she will not stand for the party again in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Judith Rogerson, who won 20,287 votes to Conservative Andrew Jones‘s 29,962 in 2019, said she had been asked by “lots of people” whether she would make a second bid to be elected.

However, posting on Twitter this morning, she said:

“Lots of things have changed for me in the past 18 months. Last year I had to step back from politics after I needed major surgery for cancer.

“Happily I am fully recovered and 2022 has been much kinder with a wedding and, in the autumn, a new member of our family.

“As much as I would like to carry on as H&K’s PPC, I’ve had to recognise that it won’t be possible for me to give that important role the time and dedication it needs this time round.”

The local Liberal Democrat party said a selection process has begun to select a new PPC, decided by a vote of its members in the constituency.

The chosen candidate is expected to be announced by the end of the summer.

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Ms Rogerson added:

“I loved my time as H&K’s candidate and am proud of everything we achieved.

“We built up a strong team of campaigners, won some excellent council by-election victories and halved the Tory majority in 2019.

“Most recently the Lib Dems became the biggest council group within the constituency.

“Whoever is the candidate next time will be starting from a strong position and I will be supporting them all the way.”

In response to Ms Rogerson’s announcement, David Goode, constituency chairman for the Harrogate and Knaresborough Lib Dems, said:

“After some tough times, the Harrogate and Knaresborough Lib Dem family are so pleased to see her happy and healthy and we thank her for all the hard work she invested in this constituency.

“Being a PPC takes up a huge amount of time and we fully support Judith’s decision to prioritise her family life. We wish her well for the exciting times ahead!

“We know our new PPC will continue to build on Judith’s achievements, as we continue to build momentum towards the next election…

“The local election results clearly showed that voters in Harrogate and Knaresborough have had enough of this government, with voters putting Boris’s Conservatives on notice.

“The Lib Dems will be campaigning for a win at the next general election, be that in the autumn, 2023 or early 2024.”

The Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency has been represented by Mr Jones since 2010, when he won the seat from retiring Lib Dem MP Phil Willis, who had previously had a majority of more than 10,000.

Then, the Conservative majority was just 1,039 over Claire Kelley of the Lib Dems. In 2015 and 2017, Mr Jones increased this to more than 16,000 and 18,000 respectively.

None of the other parties have confirmed who will represent them in any upcoming election. A date has yet to be set, but it will have to be held by December 2024 in line with the maximum five-year parliamentary term.

Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey has said the Conservative Party has “taken Harrogate for granted” in the wake of this month’s local election results.

Ten Liberal Democrat councillors were elected in the Harrogate district, compared with nine Conservatives, one Green and one Independent. However, the Tories still have a majority across North Yorkshire as a whole.

The positive results for the local Lib Dems has spurred the party on to make further gains in the area, with the ultimate prize being the seat of Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, Andrew Jones.

The party previously identified the constituency as one of its top 30 target seats in the next general election, which will be held no later than May 2024.

Mr Davey said:

“Harrogate has been taken for granted by the Conservative Party and clearly people have had enough. This month Harrogate joined countless other parts of the country in voting Liberal Democrat to send Boris Johnson a message.

“His government is failing to help people with the cost of living crisis and making matters worst through grossly unfair tax hikes.”

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Mr Davey criticised the Conservative-run Harrogate Borough Council for spending £17m on new offices as well as £5,000 on a snow globe at King’s Cross station.

He said the soon-to-be abolished authority had “stopped listening to local people”.

“The Conservative party in Harrogate has wasted huge sums of taxpayers’ cash on giant snow globes and a council office for a council that is being abolished.

“They’ve stopped listening to local people, as developers build all over Harrogate and Knaresborough’s green fields and they’ve failed to deliver on the long-promised electrification on the rail line to Harrogate.”

General election

Andrew Jones has been the MP since 2010 and has won four elections. He succeeded Liberal Democrat Phil Willis.

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

Mr Davey added:

“At the next general election it will be a two-horse race in Harrogate between Boris Johnson’s Conservative party and a hard working team of local Liberal Democrats.”

The Stray Ferret asked Andrew Jones for a response but we did not receive one.