Election leaves control of council in balance (From Gazette & Herald)

Election leaves control of council in balance

FOLLOWING election results that left no clear majority for Ryedale District Council, party blocs are manoeuvring to gain control.

Ryedale Conservatives, who had hoped to win an overall majority in last Thursday's council elections, could find themselves in opposition after winning only 13 of the 30 seats.

The three main groups - Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Independents - are each meeting over the next 48 hours to decide what line to take when the new council meets for the first time on Thursday next week and decisions are made on the leadership, and chairmanships of the key committees.

Conservative Coun Keith Knaggs said he was very disappointed that his group had not won sufficient seats to take control and his members are to meet at Ryedale House tonight to assess what went wrong. He felt that Norton had let the party down, primarily because only one Conservative candidate was fielded - councillor Stephen Shaw - and he lost his seat. The Liberal Democrats took three of the four seats in the town.

Across Ryedale, the Liberal Democrats saw their numbers increase by three.

LibDem Coun Helen Schroeder said her party was also meeting tonight. Two other councillors were elected as Liberals. If they were to join the LibDem group, it would give the bloc a total of ten seats. "At the moment, it is premature to say what will happen so far as the running of the council is concerned," she said. However, she believed the "loose coalition", which had existed between the LibDem, Independent and Labour groups for the past four years, had worked effectively.

Coun Alan Farnaby, the current leader of the council and spokesman for the now seven-strong Independent group of councillors - one up after last week's elections - said his members would meet tomorrow night to discuss tactics. "The loose liaison we had previously worked well and it is significant that we had a nil-increase budget this year. In a way we are holding the balance of power."

There is speculation that the Liberal Democrats, Independents and two Liberals might agree to form an alliance, which would give them a total of 17 seats - 13 more than the Tories - and as a result they could take the chairmanships and vice-chairmanships of the committees.

The May 1 election saw an increased number of council seats, up to 30 from 23, with an accompanying review of ward boundaries. Ryedale will have 11 new members. Seven new faces were elected as a result of the enlarged membership, and four others to replace councillors Keith Orrell (Lib Dem) and Debbie Aubrook (Con) who did not seek re-election, together with councillors Charles Scott (Con) and Gary Hobbs (Lab) who each lost their seats.

All groups said they were shocked and sorry to see Coun Hobbs - a member for 12 years and a past council chairman - defeated at Kirkbymoorside. Coun Hobbs said opposition to the Iraq war had, he believed, cost him his seat in the Kirkbymoorside ward, where he lost by just four votes to Val Arnold, a Conservative member of the county council.

"There is good middle-class support for Labour in the town, but many of these people stayed away, probably due to national issues affecting the Government." While the door of Ryedale House has closed, Coun Hobbs said he was now looking forward to becoming involved in other activities. "I like a challenge," he added.

Coun Farnaby said: "Gary was a very good councillor, and well respected. I was very sorry to see him go." Coun Knaggs said he, too, had been surprised that Mr Hobbs had not survived as Ryedale's sole Labour member and was disappointed that Coun Scott, another long-serving member, had lost his seat in The Dales ward.

Coun Schroeder, the council chairman, paid tribute to Mr Hobbs, saying: "He always acted with the greatest probity. He was a very clear thinker and we shall miss him."

Once the council decides who is to hold the top jobs, the authority will be facing a catalogue of issues, in particular the threat of regional government. Coun Farnaby said he did not favour a regional assembly covering the whole of Yorkshire and the Humber, because Ryedale would be a loser. "I am not convinced that the people of Ryedale will be better off with such a system," he said.

With the likelihood of the urban conurbations of South and West Yorkshire, and the Hull area wielding considerable political influence, he believed Ryedale's voice could be marginalised.

Coupled with that threat is the possibility of a new local authority, which could be formed with Ryedale joining forces with Scarborough council and the vast rural area of Hambleton. It could be created in the event of a regional assembly becoming a reality and the demise of the existing North Yorkshire County Council. However, both are only possible scenarios, though the issue of regional government is expected to gather pace within the next two to three years.

Updated: 12:29 Wednesday, May 07, 2003