‘We will take votes off the Tories’, says Harrogate Reform UK candidateIndependent Paul Haslam: ‘Tories became too right-wing… I offer a real alternative’‘I’m no yes man’, says Conservative election candidateGreens ‘will not be knocking on doors’ in Harrogate and Knaresborough, candidate revealsYour chance to quiz election candidates at Stray Ferret hustingsGreens say they wouldn’t have reported local Lib Dems to police if they’d apologisedCould Labour target Harrogate and Knaresborough at the next election?

Shortly after his victory speech, newly elected Labour Mayor of York and North Yorkshire David Skaith acknowledged how unusual it was for the party to win in a traditional Conservative heartland.

“North Yorkshire is not an area we normally do well in,” he told reporters huddled around him in Harrogate Convention Centre last week.

Labour leader Keir Starmer hailed it a “historic victory” for his party.

It was certainly a notable success given the traditionally Conservative voting nature of North Yorkshire, in particular in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

But does this mean Labour will begin to target the seat at the next general election?

Could Labour target Harrogate?

When the Stray Ferret spoke to Mr Skaith prior to his election win, we asked him about the fact that Labour does not perform well in Harrogate.

Mr Skaith, who was born in Harrogate, acknowledged that the town was traditionally Liberal Democrat and Conservative, but said it was a target area for his mayoral campaign.

“Certainly it is a key area for me personally because it is where I’m from and it is my hometown. It is a place that I love and I want to see it succeed and thrive.”

While the mayoral campaign may have proved successful for Labour, the party’s prospect of winning a seat in the House of Commons in the area remains difficult.

In general elections, the party’s highest vote share in Harrogate and Knaresborough came in 2017 when it managed 20% — but still finished third, well behind the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.

Every election since and before then has seen Labour record 10% or below for vote share as the party barely managed to reach 10,000 votes in all but one poll since 1997.

But the victory in the mayoral election appears to have galvanised the party and raises questions over whether it will commit more campaign resources to Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Read more:

Andrew Williamson, treasurer of Harrogate and Knaresborough Labour Party, said the victory for Mr Skaith proved people locally had switched from Conservative to Labour.

Mr Williamson added that the win also showed there were no “no go” areas for the party.

He said:

“Labour winning in Harrogate and Knaresborough and in Rishi Sunak’s backyard is a seismic result. Even the local Tory MP acknowledged that Labour did incredibly well in the area.

“So many people told us they voted Labour, many for the first time and including many former Tory voters.

“They said they were impressed by Labour’s positive vision for our area and were pleased to see our new mayor, David Skaith, campaigning in Harrogate with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, demonstrating that there are no ‘no go’ areas for Keir Starmer’s changed Labour Party.

“It’s clear that people want change for our area. It’s time that we got the chance to elect a new Labour government and Harrogate and Knaresborough Labour Party will be working hard to deliver that fresh start.”

‘A two horse race’

However, if you ask other political parties in contention for the constituency – Labour do not factor into the equation.

The Stray Ferret reported in December 2023 that the national Labour Party designated Harrogate and Knaresborough a “non-battleground” seat.

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

Andrew Jones and Tom Gordon.

Andrew Jones and Tom Gordon.

Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat candidate for the constituency, claimed the move proved that the contest is a “two-horse race”.

Mr Gordon’s latest newsletter, delivered after the mayoral election., reinforced the claim that “no other result is possible here” besides a Tory or Lib Dem win.

Labour has also yet to confirm a candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough despite the fact that a general election must take place before January 2025. By contrast, the Lib Dems confirmed Mr Gordon as its candidate in February 2023.

The opinion polls in recent months have swayed in the Lib Dems favour and painted a glum picture for the Tories.

However, Andrew Jones, the current Conservative MP, has his sights set on five election wins in a row.

Mr Jones has a 9,675 majority to defend and told the Stray Ferret in May last year that he had “no hesitation” in putting his name forward again.

“The election is about who offers the best future  – will it be Rishi or Keir Starmer. The answer is Rishi. Who will be the best local champion? Me.”

Perversely, a resurgent Labour Party may help Mr Jones if it takes votes off the Lib Dems. But how hard Starmer’s party will contest Harrogate and Knaresborough remains unclear.

Whatever it chooses, the election in Harrogate and Knaresborough is shaping up to be the closest for years.

Andrew Jones MP urges Lib Dem leader to intervene against ‘rogue’ local party

Andrew Jones MP has written to Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey urging him to take action against local party members.

Mr Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, listed eight examples of what he claimed to be “appalling behaviour” by Lib Dems in his constituency.

The letter comes after Andrew Timothy, the Lib Dem candidate in next month’s Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone by-election for a seat on North Yorkshire Council, was referred to the police for distributing a leaflet that wrongly stated the Green Party was not standing.

This was one of the eight incidents cited in Mr Jones’ letter. Others include  Mr Jones receiving compensation for false Lib Dem claims in 2013, trolling and racism.

The letter to Mr Davey says:

“I am wondering at what stage you might think it appropriate to intervene following the growing evidence that you have an organisation that has totally gone rogue?

“How many more times must statements given by your parliamentary candidate be shown to be false? Do you expect to be repeating his false claims in the House again?

“How many more standards judgements against your councillors are you willing to face? How many more police investigations do you need before you acknowledge there is a deep-seated cultural problem in the local Liberal Democrats?”

The letter goes on to say Mr Davey has not replied to previous letters raising similar concerns, adding “The Speaker has raised your lack of response with your chief whip twice”.

The Stray Ferret has approached Tom Gordon, the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough, for a response.

Mr Jones’ letter can be seen in full below or read here.

Read more:

 

 

 

Labour designates Harrogate and Knaresborough ‘non-battleground’ seat

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.

Read more:

 

Council criticised for making ‘nonsense’ of Harrogate planning committees

The chair of the Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee has strongly criticised North Yorkshire Council after another meeting was cancelled.

Planning committees comprise of a group of cross-party councillors who are supposed to meet each month to make decisions on the most important planning applications.

However, North Yorkshire Council has cancelled the next Harrogate and Knaresborough meeting scheduled this month due a lack of applications to consider.

Out of eight planned meetings, just four have taken place since North Yorkshire Council was created in April to replace Harrogate Borough Council as the lead planning authority.

North Yorkshire Council pledged to allow local councillors the ability to approve or refuse key applications but there have been concerns across the county that power has been concentrated centrally with unelected officers making the decisions instead.

The committee’s chair Pat Marsh, who represents Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone for the Liberal Democrats, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service this week that she believes the current system is “wrong” and is removing councillors from the decision-making process.

Councillors are able to call in applications to be considered by the planning committee but only if there are sound planning reasons.

Cllr Marsh said: 

“It is making a nonsense of having a planning committee and removes public participation from the planning process. I would like a review of the process and not just rely on councillors calling an application in. This is about openness and transparency.”

Read more:

Conservative vice chair of the committee Paul Haslam, who represents Bilton and Nidd Gorge, told the LDRS there is an ongoing review of the new planning committees and workload to ensure that they are deemed “fit for purpose.”

He said there has been recent meetings between the various chairs and vice-chairs and officers, where several reasons were given as to why there are fewer items going to committee.

Cllr Haslam said: 

“Development applications are down 10% nationally, locally its about 20%. The nature of applications has also changed and there are more individual housing applications such as extensions as a percentage of the applications. All developments over 50 houses would automatically come to the planning committee.

“Additionally, we have a local plan and this has reduced the number of speculative applications. Finally the Harrogate district is much reduced in size and if you were to take the original area then we might have had as many as six applications to review, but these are now with other planning committees.

“I am therefore not sure that there is too much wrong with the process but that it’s a function of the market place and having a local plan. However it is subject to review and I am keen for us to get to the bottom of this sooner rather than later.”