The Conservatives have narrowly maintained their control over local government in North Yorkshire as voters across England’s largest county backed a spectrum of other political parties.

By securing 47 seats of the 90 on the new unitary authority, North Yorkshire Council, the Conservatives have just one more than the minimum number of councillors required for a majority, losing more than 20 per cent of their share of the vote to that at the last election for North Yorkshire County Council five years ago.

Although not directly comparable, in 2017 the Tories won 76 per cent of the seats, with the Independents getting 14 per cent, Labour six per cent and the Liberal Democrats just four per cent.

The election for the unitary authority saw Independent candidates secure 13 seats, Labour and the Liberal Democrats 12 each and the Green Party will be represented at the top tier of local government in the county for the first time with some five seats.

Gareth Dadd, deputy leader of the Conservative group, said he felt the result reflected “a usual mid-term reaction” to a government.

He said:

“I’m delighted that we have secured an overall majority, but above anything else we can move forward with certainty and deliver the savings and, hopefully, devolution, that the sub-region deserves.”

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Stuart Parsons, leader of the Independent group on the county council, said he looked forward to working with all members of the new council, adding:

“At least we are no longer in a one-party state.”

Labour ‘over the moon’

Labour group leader Eric Broadbent said:

“We’re over the moon, we’ve trebled our number of councillors on the county. We’re going to have a lot more influence and give our residents a lot more say in what’s happening in their communities.”

Bryn Griffiths, the Liberal Democrat group leader, said:

“I think the electorate have seen the error of the Tories. It gives us a great opportunity to challenge them at the county council and get support for people who need support, such as those living off food banks and those on free school meals during the school holidays.”

Kevin Foster, who has become one of the new Green councillors after winning Hipswell and Colburn by just eight votes, said:

“It was the most uncomfortable day of my life! It gives us a greater chance to have our voice heard and we now have to be considered as we work to make a cleaner, greener, fairer place.”

Elected councillors will serve one year as county councillors for the existing North Yorkshire County Council and another four years as councillors for the new unitary authority.

Some 183,564 of the 478,539 electorate voted, representing a 38.4 per cent turn-out.

For the first time ever, no Conservative candidates will be seeking election to Ripon City Council on May 5.

The party is fielding candidates though in the election being held on the same day for the new North Yorkshire Council.

The apparent bloc decision means the Conservatives have disengaged from grassroots parish politics in the city with devolution less than a year away.

 Who is standing in the Ripon City Council election?

While the ballot for Ripon’s two seats on the new unitary North Yorkshire authority will be hotly-contested, the election for the 12 city council seats is looking more clear cut.

In the Minster Ward, Independents Pauline McHardy, Chris Hardisty and Tony Duncan, are already elected, because no other candidates are standing against them.

With no Labour candidates standing either, the nine remaining city council seats in the Moorside, Spa and Ure Bank wards are up for grabs in a two-way fight between the Independents and Liberal Democrats.

In the Moorside Ward, current councillors Peter Horton and Andrew Williams, are standing for the Independents, along with Julia Martin-Long, while Tom Cavell-Taylor and Paul Dinning are standing for the Liberal Democrats.

The Spa Ward sees Barbara Brodigan and Bill Swaney, of the Liberal Democrats, against Independents Jackie Crozier, Stuart Flatley and Walter Woods, while Mayor Eamon Parkin and fellow independents Jo Bate and Sid Hawke are standing for re-election in the Ure Bank ward  against Liberal Democrats Libby Clements and Helen Mason.

Disengagement from parish politics

The Conservatives’  disengagement from parish council politics, comes at a time when the demise of the Harrogate district,  potentially puts greater emphasis on grassroots decision making and the running of services.

In the devolution melting pot are issues such as ownership and operation of assets including Ripon Town Hall, Hugh Ripley Hall, Market Square, Spa Gardens and Spa Park.

Former mayor John Richmond (pictured above) told the Stray Ferret there’s a need for the city to be represented from the grassroots upwards.

Mr Richmond emphasised how important it is people vote, saying:

“Irrespective of whose name people plan to put their X against on May 5, I urge them to use their vote, because the bigger the turnout means the greater the mandate that those selected to represent us will have, when it comes to fighting for what Ripon requires.”

The independent-controlled city council has, with the support of Conservatives, called for assets handed over to Harrogate at the last major local government reorganisation in 1974, to be returned to the city’s ownership from the soon to be defunct borough.

The Conservatives have also voted unanimously with the independents over the past two years to freeze the Ripon parish precept and there was also unanimity between the two groups in calling for Homes England to reduce the number of houses at the huge barracks development, amid concerns that the city’s road infrastructure could end up in perpetual gridlock.

The need for consensus at grassroots level

Although he is no longer involved in politics or aligned to any party, Mr Richmond remains passionate about the future of the city.

He advised:

“If ever there was a time for consensus and bi-partisan decision making at a very local level, that time is now.”

Mr Richmond, who was first elected  in 1967, when he stood for the Conservatives, subsequently became an Independent and served as Mayor of Ripon in 1975-1976:

He pointed out

“The local government reorganisation in 1974 was a turbulent time, as  we were going into totally unknown territory.

“The seat of power was no longer at Ripon Town Hall, but divided between the newly-created Harrogate District and North Yorkshire County Council.

“Against this backdrop of change and uncertainty, I  soon learned how important it was to work alongside people of different political colours, when fighting for local issues.

“They, of course, were going to fight their corner for the people that voted them in and I was going to do the same for Ripon.”

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Campaigners believe it is extremely unlikely a local authority being established to shape and run North Yorkshire’s public services in the 21st century will reflect its population as less than a third of those running to represent communities are women.

An analysis of the 310 candidates running to serve a five-year term on North Yorkshire Council from next month has found just 90 are women.

All the main parties contesting the election are fielding significantly fewer women candidates than men, a situation which is also replicated by the independent candidates as a group.

Of its 90 candidates the Conservatives are fielding 20 women. The Liberal Democrats have 13 female candidates out of 48, while the Green Party has 18 women out of 50 candidates. The Labour Party has selected 19 women out of the 67 candidates it has put forward.

In some areas of the county the gender imbalance is more pronounced than others. Of the 33 candidates in the Craven area just six, or 18%, are women.

While the gender imbalance of the candidates roughly reflects the 26% of female councillors currently elected to North Yorkshire County Council, some other nearby local authorities have significantly higher proportions of women. More than 50% of Leeds City councillors are women.

Frances Scott, founder of the 50:50 Parliament, a group dedicated to enabling women to progress in politics, said with a low proportion of female candidates across all the parties for the North Yorkshire poll “it seems well nigh on impossible that the elected body will be truly reflective of the population”.

She said society needed to question why people from a group of half of North Yorkshire’s population were unable or not choosing to participate in the election.

She said:

“It’s partly about the selection committees not choosing women. We tend to choose in our own image and what we have seen before as the image of a politician. All these things are changing, but not quickly enough.”

Ms Scott added while some women were not prepared to put up with “having stones thrown”, legislation was needed to enable parents to support each other. She said: “If we are going to engage the brightest and the best to run the country we need to make sure the institutions are ones that will attract the brightest and best.

“In order to succeed in politics you need to have the support of your family and we need men to be supportive of women going into these roles.”

Many party officials privately admit changing what has traditionally been seen as a “boys’ club” at County Hall could take years as it would mean changing voters’ perception of the type of person that would be a suitable community representative.

However, all political groups said the main reason for a low proportion of female candidates in the election was a lack of women coming forward.

A spokesman for the Conservative Whitby and Scarborough group said its selection policy was “absolutely gender neutral” and out of the women who had come forward to be candidates in its area only one had not been selected.

He said:

“We can only put forward female candidates if female candidates apply.”

A Liberal Democrat spokeswoman said the Richmond constituency party had noted women were facing more practical and emotional barriers to becoming councillors than men, with many already juggling family and work commitments.

A Labour Party spokesman for the area added the gender imbalance was partly being perpetuated because established councillors, most of whom are men, were more likely to be selected due to their experience. He said the party was in favour of policies which boosted candidates from under-represented groups.

A Richmond constituency Green Party spokeswoman added:

“We have a policy of pushing women forward, but as a small party it’s more a matter of finding who is willing to stand.”