Key takeaways from North Yorkshire election debate

Candidates standing in the Richmond and Northallerton constituency took part in a live debate in Leeds

Parliamentary candidates standing in the Richmond and Northallerton constituency have taken part in a debate ahead of next week's general election.

Issues raised at the debate in Leeds on Thursday included the mystery of where Rishi Sunak was, as well as housing shortages, Brexit and Friarage Hospital.

The candidates were standing on behalf of the Conservatives, Green Party, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Reform UK and the Yorkshire Party.

Watch the debate in full here.

Where was Rishi?

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is standing for the Conservatives in Richmond and Northallerton, but was unavailable for the debate.

Mr Sunak was instead represented by constituency association member Richard Hudson, who is standing for Parliament in York Central and was nominated by his party at the eleventh hour.

This featured briefly early on, but the other candidates did not make it a central part of the debate.

They instead – largely - chose to concentrate on constituency issues.

But it flared up again later on, when Reform candidate Lee Taylor claimed Mr Sunak had not held a constituency surgery for two years.

Tom Wilson - The Labour Party - Richmond and Northallerton

This was quickly checked by BBC Yorkshire – and rejected by Mr Sunak’s team.

Mr Hudson then said: “Can I just speak in Rishi’s defence as there is an allegation he’s not a very good constituency MP.

"Rishi is out and about doing everything and he runs he country.”

"Where is he today?" was the reply from three of the other candidates.

Housing shortage is a massive issue

Housing, or the lack of it, has rocketed up voters’ priority lists at this election.

The shortages are complicated in rural areas where it is more difficult to find places to build.

Jean, a questioner through the Your Voice, Your Vote campaign, raised young people being priced out of the market and asked how the candidates would solve homelessness and the housing crisis.

Each candidate had plenty to say on this.

Labour’s Tom Wilson – whose party, nationally, says it will cut red-tape to get Britain building – was careful to mention that building can be done while protecting nature - clearly aware of criticism for his party on that issue.

Liberal Democrat Daniel Callaghan called for new powers for councils to be able to turn flats above shops into affordable homes.

The Yorkshire Party’s Rio Goldhammer said he backed a scheme where local councils would act as guarantor to get people into rented homes, funded, he said, by more money coming into Yorkshire through a devolved regional parliament.

Lee Taylor - Reform UK - Richmond and Northallerton

Friarage Hospital is crucial to the campaign

The Friarage Hospital in Northallerton has long been a hot political issue in the constituency and is a big part of this campaign.

All the candidates clearly recognise this, and are campaigning hard on its future.

There were cuts to its patient services in 2019, fiercely opposed by local campaign groups.

In the debate, Labour’s Tom Wilson linked those cuts to the housing shortage, saying the hospital struggled to find enough staff as there were not enough affordable places for NHS workers to live.

Richard Hudson - The Conservative Party - York Central

Mr Callaghan has mentioned several times in the campaign that he was born in the Friarage, and did so again on Thursday.

“The A&E has been taken away, I’m fighting to get it back,” he said.

Mr Hudson said: “The Friarage is very dear to me. I’ve had family in there.

"It was down for closure – they were withdrawing services – Rishi Sunak has saved that.”

Daniel Callaghan - Liberal Democrats - Richmond and Northallerton

Brexit was back

The candidates were forced to confront the "B-word" – Brexit.

No party has wanted to talk much about it at this election – a Your Voice, Your Vote question about the future of the chemical industry forced the subject onto the debate agenda.

Conservative Mr Hudson said Brexit was “a work in progress".

Mr Callaghan, from the pro-EU Liberal Democrats, re-stated the party’s position of not pledging to rejoin the EU in the next parliament, but said it was on the long-term agenda.

“We need to build that argument over time,” Mr Callaghan said.

Rio Goldhammer - The Yorkshire Party - Richmond and Northallerton

Labour’s Mr Wilson said: “The last thing anyone wants is to spend another two years - with so many crises that need attention – reopening an old debate regarding our membership of the EU.”

The Green Party’s Kevin Foster said bridges needed to be rebuilt with other European nations.

“It will take a long time to do it,” he said.

The Yorkshire Party’s Mr Goldhammer said: “When we left the EU we set fire to all the existing laws.

"It takes longer than that if you’re going to do it properly.”

Reform’s Mr Taylor said: “Rejoining would be the worst of all options right now. It’s not a fair system.”

Kevin Foster - Green Party - Richmond and Northallerton

Mind your manners

“Let’s be respectful and let people talk please,” the Green Party’s Mr Foster appealed to the panel.

However, there was a brief moment of tension as Reform’s Mr Taylor said to the Yorkshire Party’s Mr Goldhammer: "You were born in London."

“Yes I was, and my family came from Poland and Scotland,” Mr Goldhammer responded.

Mr Taylor said: “You’re standing for the Yorkshire Party, I’m born in Yorkshire.”

The appeal worked, the tension vanished, polite debate resumed.

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