Forgotten election

But voters served by North Yorkshire County Council were today reminded that they have two chances to cast a vote on May 5.

Not only can they have their say on who should reign supreme in Westminster - they also have the opportunity to help decide who controls a £500 million County Hall budget, and who shapes policies on key services like education, social services and transport across the county.

Created in 1974, the county council has been a Tory stronghold for years. This situation looks unlikely to change this year.

Despite suffering a miserable General Election in 2001, the Conservatives won 41 of the county council's 74 seats. Liberal Democrats took 17, while Labour trailed with 12.

But interest in the county race should ratchet up a notch or two after a boundary review redrew the political map to reflect the slow drift of voters from villages to market towns.

One glaring disparity - triggered by the formation of the new City of York Council unitary authority in 1996 - saw a councillor in the Huntington North division of Ryedale represent about 1,000 people, while, at the other extreme, some county council members represented about 10,000.

However, in the wake of the changes, most councillors will now answer to a more equal number of voters.

Instead of electing 74 councillors from the same number of divisions, the results of last year's review means there will be 72 councillors from 68 divisions this time around.

Seats have merged in Selby and Tadcaster, and Fulford division south of the City of York Council boundary has gone. It used to have an electorate of just over 1,000, but has now been replaced by a new Escrick seat made up of just under 6,000.

In Ryedale, Rillington and Huntington North have merged into other patches, while a new Thornton Dale and The Wolds seat will be contested for the first time.

For the first time there will be four two-seat divisions. Nearly every voting patch has changed in some way.

Councillors from across the political spectrum today outlined the policies they have been taking to new doorsteps on the redrawn map.

Robin Gamble Barker, of Sheriff Hutton, is standing as an independent in the Hovingham and Sheriff Hutton division of Ryedale.

An experienced parish councillor, this is the first time he has stood for County Hall.

The farmer said police issues were high on his agenda. "We have problems in the villages with speeding cars and theft from motor vehicles," he said. If elected, he said he planned to represent the older population by adjusting social services budgets in favour of pensioners.

Retired teacher David Farnhead, of Butterwick, near Malton, is Labour candidate in the same ward. He said he would campaign for improved transport links and cheaper housing.

Caroline Seymour, North Yorkshire County Council Liberal Democrat group leader, said her party was keen to pump more cash into social services and roads. She also accused the Tory-led council of "wasting money", pointing to policies on property and waste management.

But Conservative Group leader John Weighell rejected these claims. He said the council had looked to become more streamlined over the last four years. If the Tories retained control they would look to improve "one of the best education services in the country" and keep council tax down, he said.

In Selby, Steve Shaw-Wright, the Labour candidate for Selby Barlby, made education a top priority.

He said: "We would make sure the millions of pounds of investment in education by the Government got to the chalk face, and was not lost in the black hole that was County Hall.

Other policies included more affordable housing on brownfield sites to meet rural demand and investment in transport to calm rat-runs and extend 20mph zones around schools.

Mark Crane, the Conservative candidate for Selby Brayton, is campaigning on a low-tax ticket. "Under the Conservative administration council tax rates have kept low and North Yorkshire has emerged as a good, sometimes excellent, authority," he told the Evening Press.

"Education has been a particular flagship and we would also continue the drive for fiscal prudence, rather than higher and higher taxes."

But aside from policy differences, candidates of every political colour agree turnout is vital - especially amid the backdrop of the high-profile national campaign.

Coun Weighell said the message he was getting out to voters was not political. Urging people to have their say, he said: "The county election has a major impact on residents' lives - people should make their voices heard."

CANDIDATES for the North Yorkshire County Council elections on Thursday, include the following.

Harrogate

Bilton & Nidd Gorge - Robin Arthur Adderley (Con), Dennis Clive Collins (Con), Morris Lightfoot (Lib Dem), Daniel Paul Joseph Maguire (Lab), John Peter Burrill Wren (Lib Dem).

Harrogate Central - Annette Susan Jane Austen-Meek (Pink), Eric Richard Cooper (known as Richard) (Con), Andrew Hanson Jones (Con), Stephen Richard Macare (Lib Dem), Harinder Singh Mann (known as Harry) (Lab), John Walter Marshall (Lib Dem).

Harrogate Harlow - James Clark (known as Jim) (Con), Leslie John Parkes (Lib Dem).

Harrogate Oatlands - Keith Stephen Barnes (Lib Dem), Jean Mary Butterfield (Con), Keith Stuart Chapman (Ind).

Harrogate Saltergate - Gordon Brian Charlton (Lib Dem), David Gilbert Simister (Con).

Harrogate Starbeck - Richard John Cain (Con), Margaret-Ann Corlett De Courcey-Bayley (Lib Dem), Geoffrey Ronald David Foxall (Lab), David Rimington (UK Ind).

Ainsty - John Savage (Con).

Boroughbridge - Joseph Bentham (Lab), Peter Phillips (Lib Dem), John Grenville Bernard Watson (Con).

Knaresborough - Robert Wallis Aspin (Con), Alan Beatham (Lab), Michael Kenneth Gallico (Con), Richard Hall (Lib Dem), Bill Hoult (Lib Dem).

Lower Nidderdale and Bishop Monkton - Phillip Stephen Barlow (Lib Dem), Heather Joyce Garnett (Con).

Pannal and Lower Wharfedale - Neil Charles Andrew Gledhill (Lib Dem), Clifford Wilfred Trotter (Con).

Ripon - Bernard Arthur Bateman (Lib Dem), Stanley Mackintosh (Ind), Stuart Andrew Martin, Charles Ernest Powell (Ind), Richard Thomas Thomas (Con).

Ripon South - Roger Michael Baker (Lab), Charles Andrew Burrell (known as Andrew) (Con), Sidney James Hawke, John William Stockdale (Lib Dem), Andrew Williams (Ind).

Hambleton

Easingwold - Gerald Shaw (Lab), Trevor Arthur Smith, of Clifton (Lib Dem), Peter George Sowray (Con).

Northallerton - John William Blevins (Lab), Jack Dobson (Ind), Anthony William Hall (known as Tony) (Con).

Sowerby - Robert Moray Adamson (Lib Dem), William Frederick Barton (Con), John Alan Follett (UK Ind), Alan Peter Woodhead (Lab).

Stillington - Caroline Patmore (Con), Stanley William Wilson (Lib Dem).

Thirsk - Gareth Wedgwood Dadd (Con), Janet Marshall (Lab).

Scarborough

Castle - Michelle Andrew (Lab), Gillian Wendy Hopkinson (known as Wendy) (Lib Dem), Janet Helen Jefferson (Ind), John Patrick Marsden (Green), Anthony Dale Threapleton (Con).

Eastfield & Osgodby - Gary Russell Hill (Ind), Brian Anthony O'Flynn (Lib Dem), Brian Simpson (Lab), Eileen Mary Vickers (Con).

Esk Valley - Thomas William Miller (known as Bill) (Ind), John Michael Stonehouse (Lib Dem), William Herbert Tindall (known as Herbert) (Con).

Falsgrave & Stepney - Jonathan Mark Dixon (Green), Patricia Marsburg (Lab), Catherine A McNulty (Lib Dem), Jane Elspeth Mortimer (Con), Frank Peter Wright (Ind).

Filey - Elizabeth Carrington (known as Betty) (Lab), Samuel Arthur Cross (Ind), Geoffrey Cullern (Con), Julie Dower (Lib Dem).

Hertford & Cayton - John Stephen Blackburn (Con), Josephine Helen Downs (Green), Grace Elizabeth Ormerod (Lib Dem).

Newby - Graham Andrew Backhouse (known as Andrew) (Con), Mary Budda (Lab), Amanda Helen Grant (Green), Philip Charles McDonald (Ind), Michael Ford Pitts (Lib Dem).

Northstead - Eric Broadbent (Lab), Michael William Kelly (Con), Christopher John Phillips (Green), Peter Popple (Ind), Christopher Richard Walker (Lib Dem).

Scalby & The Coast - James Martin (Lib Dem), Helen Gall Swiers (Con), Philip Richard Wall (Green).

Seamer & Derwent Valley - Zia Hussain (Lib Dem), David Colin Jeffels (Con), Norman Kenneth Murphy (Ind), Bernard Stanley Pearson (known as Barry) (Lab).

Weaponness & Ramshill - Duncan Grant (Lib Dem), Paul Johnston (Green), Penny Marsden (Ind), Eric Martin Smith (known as Martin) (Con), John Warburton (Lab).

Whitby/Mayfield Cum Mulgrave - Thomas William Brown (Ind), Jane Margaret Kenyon (Con), Dalton Clive Peake (Lab), Graham Mark Peirson (Lib Dem).

Whitby/Streonshalh - Robert William Broadley (known as Rob) (Lib Dem), Peter Andrew Budd (Ind), Dorothy Hurrell (Lab), Barry Truman (Con).

Woodlands - David Lawrence Billing (Lab), William Chatt (known as Bill) (Ind), Dilys Vine Cluer (Green), Jennifer Sara Kelly (Con), Margaret Anne Pitts (Lib Dem).

Selby

Cawood and Saxton - Andrew Lee (Con), Robert James Packham (known as Bob) (Lab).

Escrick - Jean Bills (Lab), Elizabeth Ann Casling (Con).

Mid Selby - Christopher Frank Pearson (Con), John Francis Vause (Lab).

Osgoldcross - Jack Davie (Lab), Gillian Carol Ivey (Con).

Selby Barlby - Brian Samuel Marshall (Lab), Wally Norton (Con), Ruth Elizabeth Sayner (Con), Steven Shaw-Wright (Lab).

Selby Brayton - Mark John Crane (Con), Graham Michael Gatman (Lab).

Sherburn-in-Elmet - Donald Neil Bain-Mackay (Con), James Clement Snowball (Lab).

South Selby - John Michael Duggan (Lab), Margaret Hulme (Con).

Tadcaster - Eric Stephen Helsdon (Ind), Edward Brian Mansfield (known as Ted) (Lab), Christopher Metcalfe (Con), Roderic Parker (Lib Dem).

Ryedale

Hovingham and Sheriff Hutton - Robin Gamble Barker (Ind), David Charles Fearnhead (Lab), Clare Launa Wood (Con).

Kirkbymoorside - Valerie Margaret Arnold (known as Val) (Con), Ronald Ralph Chetwyn Butler (Lib), Judith Margaret Dixon (Lab).

Malton - Ann Dora Hopkinson (Lib Dem), Michael Sydney Knaggs (Con).

Norton - James Dermot Patrick Cleary (Con), David Lloyd-Williams (Lib Dem), Karl John Richard Milner (Lab).

Pickering - John Samuel Clark (Lib), Karen Louise Hartas (Lib Dem), Jill Mukett (Lab), Gregory Brian White (Con).

Thornton-le-Dale & The Wolds - Michael Beckett (Lib Dem), Linda Joyce Brittain (Lab), Ronald Malcolm Haigh (Con), Brian Maud (Ind).

Updated: 10:17 Monday, May 02, 2005