A UNIVERSITY of York student is stepping into the political shoes of Ryedale’s former council leader at the age of just 21.

Shane Collinson, from Birdsall, became one of North Yorkshire’s youngest councillors after triumphing in the by-election for the Ryedale South West seat on Ryedale District Council yesterday, and said he was now “raring to go”.

The Conservative replaces the authority’s ex-leader, Keith Knaggs, who resigned earlier this year, after seeing off independent rival Denys Townsend by 131 votes.

He is currently studying social science with crime and criminal justice in York, and said: “I just think there is a lot of distrust in politics at the moment, and I want to show that young people care about rural areas and are prepared to stand up for the countryside.

“There are a lot of political elements to my degree course, so I will make being a councillor and a student work for me. It’s going to be hard work, but I will be giving it 100 per cent. I’m champing at the bit to get going.”

Coun Collinson, a former Norton College head boy, said he was also determined to repay the local Conservative Party for supporting him. He said: “A lot of people put a lot of faith in me as a young candidate.”