Tory candidate for Harrogate says local record is most important in voters' thinking
Harrogate’s Tory candidate has spelled out what he believes are the factors influencing voter thinking just days from the General Election.
Conservative Andrew Jones, who holds a 9,000-odd majority after four election wins in a row, said what mattered to residents was local issues.
"Many people have told me that they believe the polls and are reconciled to a Labour government,” said Mr Jones.
"Locally it feels very different with polls suggesting a close result.
"Voters’ choice is being based on other factors - principally who they can trust to work hard for Harrogate and Knaresborough and everyone living here.
"I have lived here for 25 years. I was a councillor in Harrogate for eight years.
"Before being elected as MP I worked for Bettys and Taylors.
"I have never stood for Parliament anywhere else because I have only ever wanted to represent and get the best results for the community in which I live.
"For me, being an MP has never been an end in itself.
"And I think, after 14 years and four elections that resonates with people.”
At the last election in 2019, Conservative Andrew Jones scored 52.6 per cent, down by -2.9 per cent on 2017, while the Lib Dems took 35.6 per cent, a rise of 12.2 per cent.
In 2015, the Labour Party won 10.1 per cent of the vote.
That rose to 20.1 per cent in 2017 before falling back to 9.6 per cent in 2019.
The Green Party achieved 4.4 per cent in 2015 but didn't stand in either 2017 or 2019.
The short-lived UKIP Party won 8.7% in Harrogate and Knaresborough in 2015 – a candidate for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is standing in Harrogate & Knaresborough this time round.
Mr Jones argues he is different from his rivals for the seat, in particular, his main Lib Dem rival.
"I take a positive approach, no screaming headlines, no outrageous claims,” said Mr Jones.
"Just laying out calmly what we have achieved as a community - direct London trains, investment at our hospital, in schools, green buses, more modern trains on our local line, stopping the Nidd Gorge relief road proposal, gaining bathing water status for the Nidd, campaigning against the Allerton asphalt plant and so on.
"People do see the sharp contrast with my main opponent.
"He has stood for Parliament three times in five years in three different constituencies and, since 2018 has been a councillor in Newcastle and also in Wakefield.
"He has told voters in all these places that he is committed to them and now he is saying this to us.
"He claims to be local and have a local track record but he only moved here 18 months ago after beating a Knaresborough man to be chosen as the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate.
"And the feedback on the doorsteps and in my inbox is that this matters to people.
"At a time when we need to take advantage of economic recovery, win even more investment in our local services and have someone speaking with authority in Parliament on behalf of our area is that the kind of MP we need here?
"It seems clear to me that these are the factors influencing voter thinking locally.
"And I believe those factors make me the best choice for Harrogate & Knaresborough on July 4.”
Harrogate & Knaresborough 2024: The candidates
Andrew Jones, Conservative Party
Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrats
Paul Haslam, Independent
Conrad Whitcroft, Labour Party
John Swales, Reform UK
Shan Oakes, Green Party
Stephen Metcalfe, Independent