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”.

Read more:

• Green Party chooses man to fight Andrew Jones in Harrogate and Knaresborough
• Andrew Jones MP hits back over sewage vote

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.”

MPs in the Harrogate district have given their thoughts on the announcement of Liz Truss as the leader of the Conservative party.

As her confirmation as Prime Minister is set to take place today, Harrogate and Knaresborough’s Andrew Jones has welcomed her and offered his support.

He said:

“Being Prime Minister is a great responsibility and I offer Ms Truss my full support in her new role. I backed Rishi Sunak and he fought a very credible campaign.

“I am though, first and foremost, a democrat and when your choice doesn’t win you need to accept that and row in behind the winner. We are fortunate to have a breadth of talent in the government which provided us with an excellent field of candidates from which to choose any of whom would have been up to the job.

“Congratulations to Ms Truss on her success.”

Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon, posted his congratulations on Twitter.

Both he and Mr Jones highlighted the energy crisis and pressure on businesses as among the issues requiring the most urgent attention from the new Prime Minister and her cabinet, expected to be announced soon after her official confirmation in the role from the Queen at Balmoral this afternoon.

Read more:

• Nigel Adams MP resigns from cabinet
• Ripon MP warned councils are facing ‘enormous’ costs as inflation rises

It is not yet known whether any of the district’s MPs will be selected by Ms Truss for roles in government.

There has been some support for Mr Smith to be returned to his previous position as Northern Ireland Secretary: a mural in Belfast called for his reinstatement yesterday.

However, Mr Smith’s light-hearted response on Twitter suggests he is not expecting a call any time soon.

Big thanks to Larry for the shout out, but tbh it's not feline likely… https://t.co/ow1s2wEDr1

— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) September 5, 2022

Meanwhile, Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty, has announced his resignation as minister without portfolio, a position he held under Boris Johnson as one of the outgoing PM’s closes allies.

Posting on Twitter in response to Mr Adams’ resignation letter, Mr Smith said:

“Typically punchy letter from [Nigel Adams] who is a case study in backing a political horse early, sticking with it through thick and thin & showing total loyalty and support. Every PM needs a Nigel.”

Every month the Stray Ferret tries to find out what our local MPs have been up to in their constituencies and in the House of Commons.

In August, Parliament was not sitting as it was in recess over the summer. Nonetheless, Conservative MPs faced questions over what the government was doing to tackle the cost of living crisis and allegations that they voted voted in favour of pumping raw sewage into rivers and the sea.

We asked our three Conservative MPs, Harrogate & Knaresborough’s Andrew Jones, Skipton and Ripon’s Julian Smith, and Selby and Ainsty’s Nigel Adams if they would like to highlight anything in particular that they have been doing this month, but, as usual, we did not receive a response from any of them.

Here is what we know after analysing their online presence.

Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Andrew Jones

In Harrogate and Knaresborough, here is what we found out on Mr Jones:

• On August 3, Andrew Jones welcomed the Treasury’s response to his letter which ensured people connected to LPG gas bottles would get government support with their energy bills.
• Mr Jones strongly criticised claims that he voted to allow the pumping of sewage into rivers and the sea. He said the claims were “simply a lie”.
• Mr Jones called on people to get involved with the “national mission” to beat dementia by signing up to Join Dementia Research.
• The former Rail Minister told Transport for the North that investing in public transport was “going to be a main part of how we recover from the economic problems caused by the pandemic and inflation,” as well as reducing carbon emissions.
• Mr Jones also backed York to be the headquarters of the new government rail body Great British Railways.
• On August 31, he held an advice surgery in Knaresborough market.

Read more

• MPs watch: PM resignation and a leadership contest
• MPs watch: Vote of no confidence and overriding the Brexit deal

Julian Smith, MP for Ripon and Skipton.

Julian Smith

In Skipton and Ripon, here is what we found on Mr Smith:

• On August 5, Mr Smith welcomed the £11,000 awarded by Historic England to the Ripon Museums Trust to investigate the lives of disabled people in the city’s workhouse.
• Mr Smith regularly tweeted his support for Rishi Sunak in the Conservatives’ leadership election, which ends on September 5.
• Mr Smith held meetings with small business owners in his constituency. He tweeted that it was “clear urgent intervention is also required” for small businesses as well as households.
• On August 1, Mr Smith welcomed the devolution deal signed by North Yorkshire County Council, the City of York Council and the government, as well as Richard Flinton’s appointment as the chief executive of the new North Yorkshire Council.
• Mr Smith tweeted that “the new UK PM & the EU need to listen and step up” over work to secure a deal on Brexit-related issues in Northern Ireland.

Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty which includes rural Harrogate.

Nigel Adams

In rural south Harrogate, here is what we found on Mr Adams:

• On August 1, Mr Adams said he was “delighted” by the new devolution deal.
• Mr Adams posted on his website about the consultation to upgrade the A64 near York, on the main route between Harrogate and the North Yorkshire coast.
• Mr Adams also hit back at claims that he had allowed the pumping of sewage into waterways. He tweeted that the “fake news brigade and their gullible followers aren’t interested in facts” relating to the UK’s sewage system.
• It was reported that Mr Adams could be in line for a peerage in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s list of resignation honours. Such a move would trigger a by-election in his constituency. Mr Adams previously confirmed that he would stand down at the next election.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has strongly criticised claims that he voted in favour of pumping raw sewage into rivers and the sea.

Mr Jones said in the Conservative run Community News website that the environment was “being weaponised, deliberately, cynically, falsely” and that the claims were “simply a lie.”

Images of raw sewage being pumped into waterways reignited a debate around whether MPs had voted to allow it.

265 Conservative MPs, including Mr Jones, voted to stop Amendment 45 to the Environment Bill in October last year.

The amendment would have forced water companies to reduce the amount of sewage they discharged and pay for its environmental damage.

At the time, he said it had been “poorly planned and drafted”.

He subsequently supported a government amendment to make water companies provide a “costed plan” for how to reduce the amount of sewage.

People boating on the River Nidd at Knaresborough

Nidd concerns

Local criticism has concerned the safety of the River Nidd.

The Stray Ferret reported back in 2020 that it had failed chemical tests and that the water contained unsafe levels of chemical sewage.

More recent data revealed that there were around 1,000 sewage incidents in the river in 2021.

The local Liberal Democrats launched a petition on the issue earlier this year calling for a sewage tax to raise money to clean rivers.

The party’s county councillor for Knaresborough West, Matt Walker, said:

“My colleagues and I have spoken to dozens of parents whose children have become violently ill after swimming in our river, something that should be safe for them to do.

“The Nidd is huge draw for locals and tourists, we need to invest and protect what we have and that means tough action.”

However, Mr Jones argued that the practice of using sewage storm overflow drains had been done for a hundred years.

That, he noted, included when the Lib Dems were in government with the Conservatives.

Knaresborough Liberal Democrat councillors Hannah Gostlow and Matt Walker

To that, cllr Walker responded:

“New figures… show a dramatic increase in the amount of sewage released since 2016 – an increase of 2,553%. An increase under a Conservative Government.”

Shan Oakes, a Green town councillor in Knaresborough, said the town council was planning to apply for designated bathing status for a stretch of the Nidd.

She hoped that it would mean that something had to be done about its poor water quality.

Cllr Oakes blamed the government for the current situation:

“With the current situation where water is privatised, the government does not hold [water companies] to account as it should. The government has decimated the Environment Agency.”

What Yorkshire Water says

Yorkshire Water said sewage is not the only issue which affects river quality and that agriculture, businesses and plastics also have an effect.

The Environment Agency regulates discharges and companies must have permits in place.

In a statement, Yorkshire Water said:

“We know that our storm overflows operate more often than our customers, or we, would like and we’re working hard to make improvements across the region. We’re investing £790m to improve rivers across the region, including £137 million by 2025 to enhance, investigate and increase monitoring on storm overflows.”

The water company made an operating profit of £242 million in 2022.

Rishi Sunak will visit Harrogate tomorrow to court Conservative Party members as he attempts to boost his flagging hopes of becoming the next Prime Minister, the Stray Ferret understands.

The former Chancellor is expected to be in Harrogate at around 3pm to meet members, who have been voting for either Foreign Secretary Liz Truss or Mr Sunak to be the next Tory leader and PM.

Mr Sunak was the most popular choice among MPs, but among members, polling has put him consistently behind Ms Truss.

Bookmaker William Hill has odds of 1/16  for Ms Truss to be the winner with Mr Sunak trailing way behind on 17/2.

A lengthy campaign has seen two rivals tour the country in July and August.

Liz Truss met members in Harrogate on August 9, attending a house on the Duchy estate believed to be owned by Harrogate Borough Council deputy leader Graham Swift.

Liz Truss arrives at Bettys in Harrogate this month.

It will be the second visit to the Harrogate district for Mr Sunak, who spoke to party members in Masham earlier in the campaign.

The winner will be announced by September 5.

Read more:

• Rishi Sunak “warmly received” in Masham
• Andrew Jones MP: ‘I’m backing Rishi Sunak’

The Richmond MP has the backing of both Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones and Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith.

In an article on his website, Community News, Mr Jones described why he is backing the former chancellor. He wrote:

“The country needs someone who is consistent and transparent to reinvigorate trust in politics.”

The Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats are to restart their process to choose a prospective parliamentary candidate.

The party had begun moves to find someone to oppose Conservative Andrew Jones at the next general election.

But the process will be re-run after the national Lib Dems upgraded Harrogate and Knaresborough to a target seat.

Local members participated in a first selection in June and July. But a recent email to party members, seen by the Stray Ferret, said:

“Before the results of our PPC selection had been announced, we were notified that Harrogate and Knaresborough has been recognised as a target seat.

“This is great news and something that the local party executive have been working towards. However, this has implications for the selection of a PPC.”

Conservative Andrew Jones has represented Harrogate and Knaresborough since 2010.

Read more:

• Sir Ed Davey: Lib Dems will target Harrogate and Knaresborough as key seat
• Andrew Jones MP defends government response to energy crisis

The letter goes on to say that every PPC in a target seat “must be selected through a more robust selection process” and therefore the current selection process had been “curtailed”.

The email adds further information will be sent in “due course”.

David Goode, chair of the Harrogate and Knaresborough Lib Dems, said

“We have been recognised as a target seat and this is fantastic news. This is the result of months of work by our local campaigners and councillors.

“The local party started the process of selecting a parliamentary candidate earlier this summer. News of their target seat status means the process will now begin again.

“We will have to kick start a new selection process, in line with party rules. This is just something we must do but it will not detract from our campaign. ”

Local election success

At the local elections in May, the party won eight of the 13 North Yorkshire County Council seats in Harrogate and Knaresborough.  It won 11,907 votes compared to the Conservatives’ 11,103.

However, the Tories won 47 of the 90 seats across the county to retain control.

Jubilant Liberal Democrats in Harrogate and Knaresborough celebrate the local election results.

At the last general election in 2019, the Lib Dems increased their share of the vote in the constituency by 12 percentage points and reduced Conservative Andrew Jones’s majority to 9,675 votes. But Mr Jones has held the seat since 2012.

Conservative leadership candidate Liz Truss will visit Harrogate tomorrow as she continues to tout for votes from the party’s membership.

The foreign secretary will speak to local members at an undisclosed venue at lunchtime in what is being described by organisers as “an informal gathering in a central Harrogate location”.

Tickets have been sold in advance by Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative Party, with even those booked to attend not being told the location of the event until tomorrow morning. Organisers have cited “security reasons” for the secrecy.

Last month, Ms Truss’s opponent, Rishi Sunak, spoke to party members at an event at the Black Sheep Brewery in Masham.

Attendees included Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon, who has declared his support for Mr Sunak. Some of those present told the Stray Ferret there was a “warm” reception for the candidate, and that many present were already predisposed to him.

Great to welcome @RishiSunak to a packed @BlackSheepBeer in #masham today. Excellent feedback from @conservatives members across North Yorkshire #Ready4Rishi pic.twitter.com/aCY9s3gZy2

— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) July 24, 2022

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has also given his backing to the former chancellor.

Nigel Adams, whose Selby and Ainsty constituency covers the Harrogate district’s southern and eastern rural areas, has not declared his allegiance. A close ally of outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he has said he will stand down at the next election.

Ms Truss and Mr Sunak are the final two left in a long-running race to lead the party and become the next Prime Minister.

Ballot papers have now been issued to party members, with the winner of the contest set to be announced on Monday, September 5.

Read more:

• Rishi Sunak ‘warmly received’ in Masham
• Second Harrogate district MP declares support in Conservative leadership battle
• Chancellor Rishi Sunak visits Harrogate

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.”

Read more:

• Big names in UK politics coming to Harrogate for conference
• Harrogate district MPs divided over Northern Ireland Protocol
• Michael Gove visits Harrogate as local government conference begins

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.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones today urged the Prime Minister to introduce more apprenticeships in the rail industry.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Question Time, Mr Jones asked Boris Johnson if he would ensure there were apprenticeship schemes in place to help the industry become more efficient and embrace technology.

He called for the government to focus on training engineers and drivers in order to recover services lost during the covid pandemic.

The Conservative MP said:

“For years in Harrogate and Knaresborough we had the Labour no growth Northern rail franchise.

“We have new rolling stock, more and better services. We have though seen some lost as the industry has had to suspend some services while they catch up on driver training lost during the pandemic.

“Strikes just takes us back to the 1970s, so will the Prime Minister’s focus on the future ensure that we have apprenticeship schemes focussing on engineering and driver training to ensure we recover the services lost and an industry that’s focused upon efficiency and embraces technology for the future.”

Read more:

• Harrogate rail campaigner ‘optimistic’ early morning train could be reinstated
• No replacement buses for Harrogate district commuters during strike
• No trains for two days in Harrogate next week as strike action hits

In response, Mr Johnson said:

“We’re doing just that. 

“We’re reforming train driver training to make entry into the sector simpler, while continuing of course to make sure we meet vital safety requirements.”

Chris Watt, a Labour Party campaigner in Harrogate and Knaresborough, responded on Twitter by saying that Harrogate was one of the last stations left with old fashioned Pacer trains during Mr Jones’ time as rail minister.

Extraordinary #Harrogate #Knaresborough MP @AJonesMP to call for rail improvements #PMQs when he was Rail Minister (3 times) Harrogate line was one of the last in the country left suffering Pacer trains and under his @Conservatives Gov @northernassist have recently cut services!

— Chris Watt (@ChrisWatt4) June 22, 2022

Andrew Jones MP has said it is right for the Committee of Privileges to investigate MPs in light of a probe into Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s conduct.

In a speech to the House of Commons yesterday, the Harrogate and Knaresborough MP said there was a “problem with standards in our politics”.

The move comes as the Prime Minister is facing a Commons investigation into whether he misled MPs by telling them covid laws in No 10 Downing Street were followed amid an ongoing row over lockdown parties.

Mr Jones told MPs, who were debating whether to approve the probe into the Prime Minister, that higher standards were required across parliament.

He said:

“When there are questions about the conduct of any Member in this place, it is right for the Committee of Privileges to take a look at that case.

“It is right for it to investigate, it is right for it to make a judgment and it is right for that to happen whoever the Member is.

“That is the correct procedure for our House, and has been the case for a significant time. If any matters of privilege come to the House for a decision to trigger an investigation, it is right for that to happen. I support privileges investigations. It is our due process.”

Read more:

• Harrogate district MPs silent on Boris Johnson’s future
• Andrew Jones MP urges Northern to ‘rethink’ cuts to Harrogate trains

Mr Jones reiterated his call for the Sue Gray report into lockdown parties at Number 10 to be published in full.

He added:

“That is still my view. I recognise that the Met needs time and space to complete its work, but every effort must be made to bring this matter to a conclusion as fast as possible. Colleagues are making comments when we have not seen all the evidence.

“I can understand that, because I have done so, too, but the Privileges Committee must be allowed time and space to conclude its investigation and colleagues should not prejudge that.”

Analysis

At a time when Conservative MPs are considering their support for the Prime Minister, Mr Jones has remained coy over where his support lies.

Mr Jones’ contribution to the House of Commons debate was very carefully worded.

He has made his view on the wider standards in Parliament clear, but stopped short of disclosing whether or not he has acted upon this with his own party leader and the 1922 committee.

Meanwhile, Skipton and Ripon MP, Julian Smith, has remained silent on the matter and so too has Nigel Adams, Selby and Ainsty MP, who is a staunch ally of the Prime Minister.

Last week, the Stray Ferret asked all Harrogate district MPs whether Mr Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunk should resign after being notified by the Metropolitan Police that they would be given a fixed penalty notice for breaching covid rules.

However, none replied.