THE district of Ryedale turned almost entirely blue in the county council elections, with the Conservatives making two gains to take five of the six seats.

A successful day for the Tories saw their candidate Keane Duncan, 22, take the Norton division from Liberal Democrat veteran Elizabeth Shields to become the youngest county councillor in the authority’s history.

Mr Duncan won in a landslide. Of a total 2750 votes cast, he received 1599, with Mrs Shields on 715 and the Liberal Party challenger Tim Thornton on 429.

Mr Duncan said: “I’m absolutely elated with the result, as you can imagine.

“There were some people who said I was a bit too young to be a county councillor. A bit too inexperienced.

"It looks like 1599 people disagree with that view. So thank you to all the people who cast their vote for me. We put a lot of hard work in so I’m pleased that’s been recognised.”

Mrs Shields said it had been a difficult campaign. She said: “The so-called Liberal party had a candidate and they threw everything they could at Norton. It’s been quite horrific. But my people have been very good. I’ve done an enormous amount of canvassing. I have to thank the team, they’ve been great support throughout. I really hoped I would be able to hold the seat for the people of Norton. It’s very disappointing.”

There was drama elsewhere as the tightly contested Pickering seat, after at least one recount, also went to the Tories, their candidate Greg White beating the Liberal Party incumbent John Clark by just two votes - 1210 to 1208.

The Conservatives also held their three seats from 2013, with Janet Sanderson winning Thornton Dale and the Wolds, Val Arnold winning Kirkbymoorside, and new candidate Caroline Goodrick winning Hovingham and Sheriff Hutton. Ms Goodrick said: “It was a very hard fought campaign. I’m very grateful to my opponents who worked very hard and had us worried.”

UKIP, whose performance nationally was described as a “wipeout”, did not field any candidates in the Ryedale district this year. A Thirsk & Malton UKIP spokesperson explained: “UKIP Thirsk & Malton has kept its powder dry, and limited resources in reserve, for the General Election. Hence our holding back on the local elections. This is a decision that events have proved to be fully justified.”