As part of a way to develop news coverage, along with understanding of the candidates standing for Harrogate Town Council, we have put a set of standard questions to each party. That is 6 fairly basic questions for each candidate to complete.
The chair of the Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative Association has confirmed that they will not be answering the questions.
We have already received many responses, from Reform UK, Labour and the Green Party.
Rebecca Reeve-Burnett, Chair of Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative Association, said:
We are keen to engage but the format doesn’t work for us I’m afraid.
If there’s anything else I can share I will do, but will leave it for now.
Thanks for covering the manifesto earlier in the campaign
These are the questions that the Harrogate Conservatives are declining to answer:
1. What’s your connection to Harrogate ?
2. The role of the Harrogate Town Council isn’t fully defined, what would would you like to see a town council do ?
3. What do you see as the main challenges for the town council ?
4. What do you see as the main gains for the people of Harrogate ?
5. What else do you believe people should know about your or what you believe ?
6. Should a town councillor be voted for based on party or personality ?
Tim Cook, editor of the Harrogate Informer, said:
It is very worrying when public-facing groups, such as the Harrogate Conservative party, decline to engage.
The questions are pretty basic, and designed to help develop an understanding of each of the candidates. People could conclude that the conservatives don’t want local people to understand about their candidates.
From the response from the chair, they will only “share” what they choose to share – that’s not engaging, and it’s certainly not working in an open way.
The public acutely aware of politicians looking to control media, and media not sufficiently challenging politicians.
This does seem to represent a shift in approach from the local conservatives.
When Andrew Jones was MP, there was a want to engage. They typically respond within 10-minutes rather 10 days.
It didn’t mean they pandered to the media, it just meant they wanted to communicate, and it supported putting together better news items.
If you would like to reader responses so far see Harrogate Town Council
