John Lawrence is standing as the Reform UK Candidate in the Bilton grange Ward for the Harrogate Town Council Elections on 1 May 2025.
Questions to John.
What’s your connection to Harrogate ?
I moved to Harrogate some 20 years ago not knowing a great deal about the town although I had attended a number of functions here over the years, so it wasn’t completely unknown to me.
Why did I move here? Well, my partner obtained a job here at Harrogate Borough Council so it made sense for me to move over with her. Also, Harrogate provided me with an ideal hub for my work. As a Locum Solicitor I needed to travel far and wide on a regular basis in order to serve my clients. Like most people, it seems, I soon found that Harrogate was a fine place to live and, since moving it has never crossed my mind that I will ever live anywhere else but here.
The role of the Harrogate Town Council isn’t fully defined, what would you like to see a town council do ?
I think it is crucial that we put Harrogate first – to coin a phrase “Make Harrogate Great Again”. We must create a viable liaison with the County Council and enable residents to gain easy access to information that might affect them directly. Further, we must be prepared to listen to and take heed of feedback from residents and respond appropriately.
What do you see as the main challenges for the town council ?
Displaying patience. The new Harrogate Town Council will be under the auspices of the County Council as regards it’s functions. Brashness and unreasonable demands will get us nowhere. Having said that, we need to be unafraid of stating our case on behalf of the town provided it is supported by viable and incontrovertible evidence.
What do you see as the main gains for the people of Harrogate ?
A Voice! An opportunity to present your case to someone local, your Town Councillor, about issues related to both the appropriate ward and the town generally (as opposed to County Councillors or your MP who have, I feel sure, much on their proverbial plate which prevents
them from giving the requisite time to town matters)
What else do you believe people should know about you and what you believe ?
I was born in a small mining town in what I still like to think of being in the West Riding! My Dad was a miner as was his Dad before him. I was the first in my family to have passed my 11-Plus and go to Grammar School. When I was 14 years old my parents decided to move
down to Bristol where I transferred to a local Grammar School.
I left school at 17 and started work with a leading Bristol Solicitors, as a junior clerk. I married at 21 and moved to live and work in North Somerset. I set about studying for a legal qualification a year or so later, aiming to become a Legal Executive. I passed my exams in the next couple of years having moved back to Beverley in Yorkshire, working at the former East Riding County Council. I did not take to that so moved back into private practice. I then studied for four years whilst holding down a full-time job and raising a young family to become a qualified Solicitor.
Being a solicitor has enabled me to do many things that I would not have otherwise been able to do. I worked many years in private practice both as a sole practitioner and in partnership; I worked for District Councils in North Yorkshire, in one instance as Council Solicitor and elsewhere in my capacity as a Locum Consultant. I decided not long before I moved to Harrogate to change focus and work as a Locum generally. I have worked far and wide from Lincoln in the south to Newcastle in the north and Liverpool in the west.
During my time, in addition to my work, I have been privileged to have served for several years as a Director and Vice-Chairman of Scarborough FC. and, for a short while, Director and Chairman of a professional Rugby League club. My leisure time nowadays consists of travel (as often as I can) and walking the Moors and Dales of our most beautiful County.
Should a town councillor be voted for based on party or personality ?
Both are important but at a local level I think it is even more important to have a willingness to listen and to act in the best interests of those you represent and their issues.
