‘Hard-working and warm’ – Friends of former Harrogate mayor and Liberal Democrat councillor Pat Marsh pay tribute after decades of service

Ms Marsh resigned under a cloud in February following alleged antisemitic comments made on social media platform X related to the war in Gaza.

She was under suspension from the Liberal Democrats when she quit.

In a by-election on Thursday (April 11), Liberal Democrat Andrew Timothy won her former North Yorkshire Council seat in the Stray, Hookstone and Woodlands division.

It marks the final chapter of Ms Marsh’s political career which dates back to 1990 when she was first elected to Harrogate Borough Council as an independent for the Starbeck ward.

She became politicised during a battle to build a new Tesco supermarket near Stonefall cemetery in the late 1980s – it was one she was particularly proud of winning.

Long-time friend Councillor Philip Broadbank (Liberal Democrat – Fairfax and Starbeck) was three years below Ms Marsh at Woodlands Primary School and said she was always on the side of her residents.

He remembers evenings spent around the dinner table at the Marsh household plotting the campaign against the supermarket alongside her husband Reg Marsh, who was the Liberal Democrat councillor for Wedderburn and died in 2014.

Before they were both councillors, Reg was in the army and the family lived in Malaysia before returning to Harrogate.

Councillor Broadbank said: “She was a fighter and was absolutely determined.

“She had strong opinions, was a very hard worker and was always prepared to advise.

“She wasn’t always successful but she never did anything for personal gain.

“There was nothing like that with Pat, she was straightforward and honest but was always pleasant to people.”

In the early 1990s, Ms Marsh allied with Councillor Arnold Warneken (Green – Ouseburn) in a coalition along with another councillor David Rimmington.

Councillor Warneken said he looked up to her as a role model.

He said: “Pat Marsh showed us what a good councillor was.

"I got the benefit of that from following her for 30 years.

“She’s been a hard-working, warm and contentious councillor and people always spoke highly of her – she did a lot for the Harrogate district.”

Since 1990, Ms Marsh sat on the council’s planning committee and played a key role in how the Harrogate district has changed over the years.

She was sometimes on the end of criticism about the scale of housebuilding but as a non-car driver, she often tried to ensure that developments were served with proper bus routes.

The coalition helped the Liberal Democrats take control of the council in 1994 and ultimately led to council leader Phil Willis becoming the party’s first Harrogate and Knaresborough MP in 1997.

Ms Marsh joined her husband in the Lib Dems in 1996 and took charge of the leisure committee.

She was instrumental in the move from Coppice Pool to the Hydro, which opened in 1999.

She was also involved in the battle to save the Sun Pavilion in the Valley Gardens, worked to refurbish the Turkish Baths, helped get Starbeck In Bloom off the ground and fought to improve safety outside schools in her ward.

Councillor Broadbank said Reg’s unexpected death in 2014 was a huge blow to the community as the couple was a popular double act on the doorstep.

He said: “The pair of them were very hard-working and that’s partly why they kept getting re-elected – they were prepared to get stuck in.”

Ms Marsh became the leader of Harrogate Borough Council’s Lib Dem group in 2015 and regularly butted heads with Conservative council leader Richard Cooper.

With the demise of Harrogate Borough Council in 2022, Ms Marsh became an honorary alderwoman for the borough, a title bestowed on councillors with more than 20 years of service.

But she was almost blocked from receiving it due to disparaging comments she made about Andrew Jones MP and Mr Cooper while being secretly recorded, but she eventually apologised.

Following Ms Marsh’s resignation earlier this year, Councillor Warneken said she has been “hung out to dry” by her former colleagues in the Liberal Democrats.

She received no mention from her successor Andrew Timothy in his speech after winning the by-election.

However, both Ms Marsh’s friends hope she’s remembered more for her long tenure in Harrogate public life than how her political career ended.

Councillor Broadbank said: “This isn’t how her life in local government was supposed to have finished.”