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.

Read more:

• Knaresborough councillor accuses MP of using Nidd sewage campaign as ‘political tool’
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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.”

Read more:

• ‘Questions to ask’ about Lib Dem candidate selection, says party activist
• Conservatives select candidate for crucial Masham and Fountains by-election

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.

A Liberal Democrat activist has questioned the selection process that has resulted a shortlist of just two for the party’s prospective parliamentary candidate.

The party member, who asked not to be named, said he didn’t feel either was the right person to stand at the next general election.

He said choosing between the two by the end of the month was going to be very hard.

The two candidates in question are Matt Walker, who is a Liberal Democrat councillor representing West Knaresborough on North Yorkshire Council, and Wakefield-based Tom Gordon.

Speaking about Mr Walker, the activist said he feared he was not up to the task of debating policy and standing up to opponents, including the current MP and his constituency office manager and Harrogate Borough Council leader, Richard Cooper.

He said:

“I would not want to put him in the business community. He wouldn’t be able to stand up to questioning.

“If he was somewhere with Andrew Jones or Richard Cooper, he would be eaten alive. He wouldn’t know where to turn.

“It would be a blood bath, Matt Walker and Richard Cooper in the same hustings. He just isn’t capable of it.

“I wouldn’t want to send him to meet people on Duchy Road. He just doesn’t have the kerb appeal.

“As a candidate, he just doesn’t excite me.”

However, the party activist was no more inspired by the other candidate.

Read more:

• Race to be Lib Dem candidate in Harrogate and Knaresborough down to final two
• Conservatives select candidate for crucial Masham and Fountains by-election

Tom Gordon is the Liberal Democrat group leader on Wakefield Council, representing the Knottingley Ward.

He previously stood in the Batley and Spen by-election in 2021, coming fourth with 1,254 votes. Labour’s Kim Leadbeater won 13,296 votes, the Conservatives had 12,973, and George Galloway, standing for the Workers Party, got 8,264.

The Liberal Democrat activist said he was not concerned about this result, because the party “wouldn’t have expected to do well”, or by Mr Gordon not being from the local area. However, he said it was hard to know whether to vote for him because he did not have a local track record.

He added:

“If you are good and you’ve got credibility, you can work on that. We’ve got probably a couple of years before an election. You need somebody that people will sit up and take notice.

“He is a bit of an unknown quantity.”

The activist said he compared the candidates to previous Liberal Democrat MP Phil Willis – now Lord Willis of Knaresborough – and to the most recent PPC, Judith Rogerson, both of whom were willing and able to stand up to the opposition on local issues.

Previous Lib Dem PPC Judith Rogerson and former MP Phil Willis

Last year, the selection process was halted part-way through when Harrogate and Knaresborough was listed as a ‘target seat’ by the national party. At that point, a longer shortlist had been produced.

The activist said although he understood there was a shortlisting process before members were given the chance to vote, he wanted to know how the final two had been chosen in this case.

He added:

“There’s a question to ask about what has gone on. I would have hoped there would be more, with the publicity we had about it being a target seat.”

The Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats have defended their selection process and both candidates following the criticism. A spokesperson said:

“After a routine and rigorous process which involved an application and approval round, local Liberal Democrat members will shortly be able to vote for their next prospective parliamentary candidate.

“Either of the current candidates will be a strong voice for Harrogate and Knaresborough, fighting for a fair deal against the Conservatives who’ve taken our area for granted for years.”

The Liberal Democrats have named the final two candidates in the running to stand for the party in Harrogate and Knaresborough at the next election.

Local councillor Matt Walker and party campaigner Tom Gordon will be on the ballot paper when the final vote takes place, ending on January 30.

The winning candidate will be introduced as the prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) at the constituency’s annual dinner on February 4.

Mr Walker was elected to represent Knaresborough West on North Yorkshire Council last May. He works for the NHS and has managed A&E at Harrogate District Hospital, as well as the out-of-hours GP service for North Yorkshire. He grew up and went to school in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Mr Gordon has campaigned for the Liberal Democrats around the country, including supporting Judith Rogerson in Harrogate and Knaresborough at the last general election. He was born and raised in Yorkshire and previously stood for the Lib Dems in the Batley and Spen by-election in 2021.

The selection process has been long and drawn out for the party. It initially began last June, but was abandoned two months later when the constituency was made a ‘target seat’ by the national party.

Writing to local party members to reflect on the last year, Harrogate and Knaresborough party chairman David Goode said the North Yorkshire elections last May had been very successful for the Liberal Democrats.

He added:

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.”