Harrogate councillors block fellow Conservative from receiving prestigious civic title as standards row continues

Harrogate Borough Council has the power to bestow the title of honorary alderman or honorary alderwomen to past members who have given over 15 years of good service.

With the impending abolition of Harrogate Borough Council on March 31 to make way for the new North Yorkshire unitary council it means a host of councillors can be considered.

This includes Nick Brown, Conservative councillor for Bishop Monkton and Newby, who has been a Harrogate councillor for 15 years but had been the subject of a standards investigation following comments he made.

Change to the constitution

During a meeting last month, Conservative council leader Richard Cooper proposed a successful motion to change the council’s constitution and effectively ban councillors from becoming an honorary alderman or alderwoman if they have fallen foul of the council’s code of conduct but have then refused to take any of the recommended actions such as apologise to members.

The authority’s general purposes committee met yesterday evening and voted on which councillors would be recommended for the title.

Before voting on Councillor Brown, head of legal and governance, Jennifer Norton, read out a statement on his behalf that said the councillor believed he had no outstanding course of action take following his own investigation.

Ms Norton said: “The decision notice identifies two actions, the first one being to draw the process to a close as it’s not been possible to reach a satisfactory conclusion or an apology — and the second one is to recommend to Councillor Brown that he reflects on the concerns raised and considers whether the points he was trying to make in a submission were well served by his style of presentation or use of injudicious language.

“Councillor Brown advises me that he’s reflected on the concerns raised and has also informed me that on September 24 2021 he sent an email to all his colleagues with an informal apology.

"In this way he feels there are no outstanding courses of action for him to take when you assess that against the decision notice.”

However, six Conservative councillors on the committee – Richard Cooper, Tim Myatt, Rebecca Burnett, Matt Scott, Ed Darling and Sam Gibbs — all voted against recommending Councillor Brown for the honorary alderman title.

Ripon independent, Pauline McHardy, Liberal Democrat, Philip Broadbank and Cllr Brown himself voted in favour.

Other councillors blocked

By six votes to three, the committee also voted against recommending Liberal Democrat member for Hookstone, Pat Marsh, who is the longest-serving female councillor on the authority with 33 years’ service.

Councillor Marsh was found to have breached the council’s code of conduct after she made comments to a resident, that were secretly recorded, about council leader Richard Cooper, council officers and Cllr Cooper’s employer, Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough Andrew Jones.

A panel asked Councillor Marsh to make a public apology but she has refused, citing her right to free speech and accusing the panel of not being politically balanced.

By five votes to four, councillors voted against former Ripon councillor and current county councillor Andrew Williams from becoming an honorary alderman despite his 20 years of service.

Council leader withdraws

Councillor Cooper, who was elected 23 years ago and is eligible to receive the title, told councillors the he is leaving politics for good after the abolition of Harrogate Borough Council and did not want to be considered.

He said: “The civic side of the council has never been for me. I’ve made it clear I’m going to be leaving representative politics, when you’re leaving something you can’t have one foot in the door and one foot out of the door, even if it’s a tiny toe over the threshold.

"This just isn’t right for me.”

The full list of councillors put forward for the title and how long they have served:

Philip Broadbank, Liberal Democrat councillor for Starbeck (44 years)

Nigel Simms, Conservative councillor for Masham and Kirkby Malzeard (24 years)

Margaret Atkinson, former Conservative councillor for Fountains and Ripley (23 years)

Jim Clark, former Conservative councillor for Harlow (22 years)

Trevor Chapman, Liberal Democrat councillor for Bilton Grange (19 years)

Michael Harrison, Conservative councillor for Killinghall and Hampsthwaite (19 years)

Sid Hawke, Ripon Independents councillor for Ripon Ure Bank (18 years)

Stuart Martin, Conservative councillor for Ripon Moorside (18 years)

Christine Willoughby, Liberal Democrats councillor for Knaresborough Eastfield (17 years)

Matthew Webber, Liberal Democrat councillor for New Park (16 years)

Robert Windass, Conservative councillor for Boroughbridge (15 years)