North Yorkshire: Conservatives lose majority after councillor quits

Mike Jordan's decision means the Conservatives have 45 out of 90 seats on the council

The Conservatives have lost their majority on North Yorkshire Council after a councillor quit the party.

Mike Jordan, who represents the Camblesforth & Carlton ward in the Selby area, said his decision reflected concerns about the party nationally.

His decision leaves the Conservative Party with 45 members on the 90 seat authority.

The party will continue to run the authority with the support of some independent members.

Mr Jordan, who previously left the Conservatives for the Yorkshire Party in 2018 before rejoining, said his concerns did not relate to how the council was run, but was due to the national party's policies, such as hitting carbon cutting targets and taxation.

"I will sit with the unaffiliated Independents, I may join the Yorkshire Party. I'm having talks with them," he said.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he said he regretted rejoining the Conservative group, claiming it had "no money and no office".

Mr Jordan's ward is in the Selby and Ainsty constituency, where sitting Conservative MP Nigel Adams announced on Saturday he was quitting.

Committee concerns

Conservative group leader Carl Les said despite Mr Jordan's defection "we will continue to develop policies and put them to the council and through the executive".

The group is now believed to be approaching independent members in the hope they might join or rejoin.

As it no longer holds a majority, officers will also examine the political make-up of the council's committees.

Liberal Democrat group leader Bryn Griffiths said Mr Jordan's decision was "indicative of the Tory Party generally - falling apart and arguing amongst themselves".

While Steve Shaw Wright, the Labour group leader, said waiting until the next full council meeting on 19 July to decide political representation on committees was "totally unacceptable".

Stuart Parsons, who leads the North Yorkshire Independent Group, said changing the political representation on committees would "allow a closer form of democracy to come out" and suggested that even the council's decision-making executive should only be 50% Conservative.

Mr Les said he had always consulted with other political groups and would continue to do so.

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