Post by bungle on Dec 12, 2023 11:14:44 GMT
Skipton and Ripon
North Yorkshire specialises in large constituencies by geographical area. The sparse distribution of the population here reflects the underlying topography: this is a county of vast landscapes and small towns and villages. Farming and tourism dominate in terms of economic drivers. All of this creates the conditions for the Conservative Party to thrive at a parliamentary level and both the Skipton and Ripon areas (other than a brief wobble in the early 1970s) have followed that script faithfully.
The constituency of Skipton and Ripon was first created in 1983 when the Boundary Commissioners caught up with the significant impact of the 1972 Local Government Act in this part of the world. Prior to then there were two distinct seats - Skipton CC and Ripon CC – and a superficial glance based on nomenclature might have suggested Skipton and Ripon was merely a fusion between two undersized seats. Far from it; both electorates were a respectable if under-powered 53,000 in 1979. The old Skipton CC was the northern outpost of the old West Riding of Yorkshire which incredibly stretched from Sheffield to Sedbergh. The seat included the Aire Valley just north of Keighley, the urban area of Skipton, some mill towns to the west such as Barnoldswick and Earby and then the vast open Dales areas stretching relentlessly north before reaching the aforementioned remote town of Sedbergh. The 1972 LGA moved the area around the Forest of Bowland and Barnoldswick & Earby into Lancashire (understandably a controversial move). Sedbergh and Dent were moved to Cumbria. Addingham was incorporated into Bradford MDC and the remaining area became part of the new county of North Yorkshire. So for three parliaments, the MP for Skipton represented interests covering 3 county councils, 4 district councils (Craven, South Lakeland, Ribble Valley and Pendle) and one metropolitan area. I can imagine the temptation for the MP not to get involved in local government matters proved strong!
Ripon CC ended up covering a similar residual mish-mash, although nothing quite so heretical as ripping away parts of God’s Own County and handing them to the enemy (cf Saddleworth). The seat was comprised of the borough of Ripon, the upland and dales countryside around Pateley Bridge and then coming south to take in both well-heeled genteel Ilkley and its more workaday neighbour Otley. The 1972 LGA took Ilkley and placed it into Bradford MBC while Otley joined Leeds MBC. The remainder of the Ripon seat went into the new North Yorkshire. Across the south-west and western part of that new county there was a strong degree of congruence as to the type of geography, demographics and economic & social drivers; as such, the creation of Skipton & Ripon CC was a harmonious and logical proposal. This is despite the fact it takes a long drive on an awful trunk road (which frequently succumbs to landslides) to get from Skipton to Ripon.
In describing the constituency in more detail it makes sense to start with its eponymous towns. Skipton was historically a mill and market town with its famous Belle Vue Mills that made Sylko (beloved thread for any serious seamstress) and was also a key stopping point on the Leeds to Liverpool Canal. The industrial nature of Skipton was never absolute but it did mean plenty of artisan terraced housing was built in areas like Middle Town and off the Keighley Road. This meant Labour were competitive at local elections within Skipton (frequent winners of the old East ward) and they started to become so once again in the old Craven ward of Skipton West (which covers the Keighley and Broughton Road areas). More comfortable residential areas around Aireville Park and some new private estates to the north re-balance the town interests for the Conservatives via Skipton North (although the Greens won this in 2019 and the larger unitary division covering this area in 2022) whilst local independents complicate the picture as well. In 2022 this was to the frustration of Labour who lost the new unitary division of Skipton East & South by 20 votes (to a long standing but controversial independent due to his expenses fiddling) and the Skipton West & West Craven division to an Independent on a drawing of lots. The Conservatives were also just 3 votes behind, which reflected the artificial rural/urban amalgam of this division which is unlikely to survive a proper boundary review. The Lib Dems often featured as a force across some of the Skipton wards in the 1990s/2000s but they have faded away in the last decade.
Skipton is evolving; although it still has an older demographic it is becoming attractive as a place for families and younger commuters who work in Leeds and Bradford thanks to the now vastly improved Aire Valley electric railway and services are often rammed to capacity. It regularly features in ‘top 10 places to live’ surveys that polyfill the property sections of newspapers and lifestyle magazines. There is an increasing younger feel to the place and the shopping experience is evolving through its ever popular market and lots of small craft and artisan shops. It is likely that parties and candidates other than the Conservatives will continue to do well in Skipton, which should also be reflected in the parliamentary vote. The Aire Valley territory within North Yorkshire – which is located south of Skipton in the very south west corner of this vast constituency - is also attractive to a similar demographic that find Skipton amenable; it is also more working class in origin with much mill-related small sized Victorian terraced housing in villages like Cowling (birthplace of Philip Snowden, Labour's first ever Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Glusburn/Cross Hills. The former has voted Labour recently at ward level and in the 2022 locals election the Aire Valley division was won by the Greens 79%:21% in a straight fight with the Conservatives. The other division here – the wordily named Glusburn, Cross Hills and Sutton in Craven division – has a long history of support for local independents. The whole Aire Valley is now likely to return a significant non-Tory vote at parliamentary level.
Moving now to Ripon, this was always a more genteel place than more industrial Skipton (Ripon also has city status to be exact, as it has a cathedral). Like Harrogate ten miles to the south it developed some identity as a leisure and spa town in the late Victorian age but this never dominated. Today it remains a healthy town with most main services extant and a good mix of housing types. Politically at a local level it has always displayed a residual conservatism and dislike of extremes. The Conservatives are the default option but other avenues emerge. The local Lib Dems got well organised here in the 1990s and more recently a local force, the Ripon Independents, have been successful. In 2022 the Lib Dems returned to prominence by winning the north Ripon division (Ure Bank & Spa) whilst the RIs won the southern division (Minster & Moorside) with nearly 70% of the vote. Just west of Ripon is the delightful and popular National Trust visitor attraction of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal and beyond it is Nidderdale which contains a high level quality pastureland where its well-hewn villages are a mix of farming interests and those with money who have chosen a less intense rural existence. The Nidderdale hub town is the pleasant Pateley Bridge and the first outing of the Pateley Bridge & Nidderdale division in 2022 resulted in a Lib Dem victory, which was something of a shock to local Conservatives. To the north east of Pateley Bridge is the attractive market town (its Market Square is huge) of Masham, home of a famous annual sheep fair. Masham marks the north eastern corner of the constituency. Just outside the town is Swinton Park, which between 1948 and 1975 was the Swinton Conservative College used for training agents and activists. Harold Macmillan was a keen attendee – usually around the 12th August each year. Swinton Park has been owned by the Cunliffe-Lister family (Earls of Swinton) since the 1880s. However, at least one member of the family has deserted the Conservative Party. In 2022 Felicity Cunliffe-Lister stood as an Independent in the Masham & Fountains division polling 30%. When the incumbent councillor died, at the resulting by-election in Feb 2023 the Countess of Swinton (as is her title) stood for the Liberal Democrats in two horse race and won 63%:37%. The Lib Dems now have a good swathe of yellow colouring on the north eastern map of the seat – a complete contrast to earlier times when it was Skipton and Settle which were their heartlands in this seat.
Other than in the aforementioned Aire Valley, the remainder of the constituency is dominated by the large landscapes and moorland mainly contained at the southern end of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Shooting interests matter here with many landed estates such as Swinton and the Duchy of Devonshire land in Wharfedale. The resident population is very dispersed around small farmsteads, small hamlets & villages and the occasional small town such as at Grassington (which features as Darrowby in the re-make of veterinary drama “All Creatures Great and Small”). It is no surprise that the economy here is hugely driven by tourism and agriculture, in particular sheep farming. Politically this means there is strong residual support for the Conservatives nationally whilst locally there was a chequerboard of large area/small electorate wards like Barden Fell or Upper Wharfedale where the winner was pretty much either a Conservative or a small ‘c’ conservative Independent. The move to larger unitary divisions meant it was easier for the Conservatives to corral their support locally – they won the large-sized Wharfedale division with 61% of the vote. In Settle the Liberal Democrats were very well organised from the 1970s until the late 2000s, mainly thanks to the Graham family (more on them shortly) but they only managed third place in 2022 with an easy Tory victory. The Conservatives now dominate this northwestern end of the seat with the territory around Bentham and Ingleton some of its most consistently reliable at parliamentary level. Both of these places are large villages rather than fully functioning towns and they nod more towards the Lune Valley and Lancashire for services, whereas to the east are vast swathes of open moorland whose most notable feature is the bleak but photogenic Ribblehead Viaduct.
Unsurprisingly, Skipton and Ripon provides little excitement to the psephologist. Its sheer size and the fragmented nature of the opposition means it will remain a safe Conservative seat under first past the post. There is a little colour which is worth noting, although it is pre-1983 and no longer relevant. Back in 1973 at the surge of Liberal support, Ripon CC produced one of those string of by-election victories where a safe Tory seat was swung within a matter of a few weeks campaigning. Liberal candidate David Austick was a Leeds bookseller of some scale (Austicks Bookshop in Leeds is well remembered by many) and he took the seat by 946 votes. Unlike other similar gains such as Berwick and Isle of Ely, the Tories managed to claw their way back in Feb 1974 by over 4,000 and then 7,000 in the October. Normal service then resumed and Austick went off to fight Cheadle in 1979.
Also in the early 1970s, over in the Skipton constituency, the Conservatives were facing a real challenge for the first time from the energetic and high-profile Liberal Claire Brooks. With her well trained sister Beth Graham as campaign manager they propelled a sleepy constituency into a hard-fought battle. Brooks cut the Conservative majority to 2,000 in Feb 1974 and did even better in the October (against the trend for Liberals) falling short by only 590. Brooks promptly won a seat on the council and, with her sister turning Settle into a Liberal bastion, it wasn’t surprising that the veteran sitting MP, Burnaby Drayson, did not relish another re-match with Claire Brooks. In 1979 the Conservatives put up a vigorous 36 year old as a replacement, John Watson, who in 1983 became the first MP for Skipton & Ripon. Watson became disillusioned and retired in 1987 to go back into industry (although he later served as a North Yorkshire county councillor) and his replacement was North Essex MEP David Curry. Curry had some connection with the constituency having attended Ripon Grammar School and he was able to carve out a sensible ministerial career under John Major. A devoted Clarkeite and pro-European, he sensibly bowed out in 2010 which is when the current MP Julian Smith was first elected. Smith rose quietly to become Chief Whip and then a short but seemingly successful spell as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland before being dispensed with in February 2020. Smith was re-selected in April 2023 but he might be high on the list for a last minute retirement if the Conservatives are facing the prospect of dark years in opposition.
The electoral history of Skipton and Ripon since 1983 shows very little of significance for this is an ultra-safe Conservative seat. The Tory majority in 1997 was still over 11,000, despite Curry only getting 46.5% of the vote. Since 1983 the Liberals/Lib Dems have corralled most of the anti-Tory vote with some good performances (32% in 2010). However, this quickly unravelled to 7% in 2015 and subsequently an agreement with the Greens not to stand a Lib Dem candidate in 2017 (I wonder what the late Claire Brooks would have made of that?) was nugatory in making the Greens the clear challenger. Labour were the main beneficiary with an 11% vote increase and their performance in 2019 was still good enough to retain second place, despite the return of the Lib Dems. Unsurprisingly Julian Smith cruised to victory with nearly 60% of the vote and a 23,700 majority.
The 2023 boundary changes affecting Skipton and Ripon are pretty minor. There has been a re-shuffling of boundaries largely around the Harrogate/Wetherby corridor in order to create a new cross-North & West Yorkshire seat which was required based on the seat allocation for this configuration. For Skipton and Ripon it means the transfer of the old Bishop Monkton & Newby ward (on its eastern most periphery) into this new seat (Wetherby and Easingwold). It also gains a village – Huby – from Selby and Ainsty in a minor boundary tidy-up to reflect earlier ward boundary changes. This exercise also sees the villages of Ripley (site of another stately home) and Nidd transfer in from Harrogate and Knaresborough with Burton Leonard going the other way. These changes would have shrunk the 2019 Tory majority by around 1,500 or so. Barring a freak by-election in difficult circumstances, this is a seat that will reliably elect Conservatives for many elections to come.
North Yorkshire specialises in large constituencies by geographical area. The sparse distribution of the population here reflects the underlying topography: this is a county of vast landscapes and small towns and villages. Farming and tourism dominate in terms of economic drivers. All of this creates the conditions for the Conservative Party to thrive at a parliamentary level and both the Skipton and Ripon areas (other than a brief wobble in the early 1970s) have followed that script faithfully.
The constituency of Skipton and Ripon was first created in 1983 when the Boundary Commissioners caught up with the significant impact of the 1972 Local Government Act in this part of the world. Prior to then there were two distinct seats - Skipton CC and Ripon CC – and a superficial glance based on nomenclature might have suggested Skipton and Ripon was merely a fusion between two undersized seats. Far from it; both electorates were a respectable if under-powered 53,000 in 1979. The old Skipton CC was the northern outpost of the old West Riding of Yorkshire which incredibly stretched from Sheffield to Sedbergh. The seat included the Aire Valley just north of Keighley, the urban area of Skipton, some mill towns to the west such as Barnoldswick and Earby and then the vast open Dales areas stretching relentlessly north before reaching the aforementioned remote town of Sedbergh. The 1972 LGA moved the area around the Forest of Bowland and Barnoldswick & Earby into Lancashire (understandably a controversial move). Sedbergh and Dent were moved to Cumbria. Addingham was incorporated into Bradford MDC and the remaining area became part of the new county of North Yorkshire. So for three parliaments, the MP for Skipton represented interests covering 3 county councils, 4 district councils (Craven, South Lakeland, Ribble Valley and Pendle) and one metropolitan area. I can imagine the temptation for the MP not to get involved in local government matters proved strong!
Ripon CC ended up covering a similar residual mish-mash, although nothing quite so heretical as ripping away parts of God’s Own County and handing them to the enemy (cf Saddleworth). The seat was comprised of the borough of Ripon, the upland and dales countryside around Pateley Bridge and then coming south to take in both well-heeled genteel Ilkley and its more workaday neighbour Otley. The 1972 LGA took Ilkley and placed it into Bradford MBC while Otley joined Leeds MBC. The remainder of the Ripon seat went into the new North Yorkshire. Across the south-west and western part of that new county there was a strong degree of congruence as to the type of geography, demographics and economic & social drivers; as such, the creation of Skipton & Ripon CC was a harmonious and logical proposal. This is despite the fact it takes a long drive on an awful trunk road (which frequently succumbs to landslides) to get from Skipton to Ripon.
In describing the constituency in more detail it makes sense to start with its eponymous towns. Skipton was historically a mill and market town with its famous Belle Vue Mills that made Sylko (beloved thread for any serious seamstress) and was also a key stopping point on the Leeds to Liverpool Canal. The industrial nature of Skipton was never absolute but it did mean plenty of artisan terraced housing was built in areas like Middle Town and off the Keighley Road. This meant Labour were competitive at local elections within Skipton (frequent winners of the old East ward) and they started to become so once again in the old Craven ward of Skipton West (which covers the Keighley and Broughton Road areas). More comfortable residential areas around Aireville Park and some new private estates to the north re-balance the town interests for the Conservatives via Skipton North (although the Greens won this in 2019 and the larger unitary division covering this area in 2022) whilst local independents complicate the picture as well. In 2022 this was to the frustration of Labour who lost the new unitary division of Skipton East & South by 20 votes (to a long standing but controversial independent due to his expenses fiddling) and the Skipton West & West Craven division to an Independent on a drawing of lots. The Conservatives were also just 3 votes behind, which reflected the artificial rural/urban amalgam of this division which is unlikely to survive a proper boundary review. The Lib Dems often featured as a force across some of the Skipton wards in the 1990s/2000s but they have faded away in the last decade.
Skipton is evolving; although it still has an older demographic it is becoming attractive as a place for families and younger commuters who work in Leeds and Bradford thanks to the now vastly improved Aire Valley electric railway and services are often rammed to capacity. It regularly features in ‘top 10 places to live’ surveys that polyfill the property sections of newspapers and lifestyle magazines. There is an increasing younger feel to the place and the shopping experience is evolving through its ever popular market and lots of small craft and artisan shops. It is likely that parties and candidates other than the Conservatives will continue to do well in Skipton, which should also be reflected in the parliamentary vote. The Aire Valley territory within North Yorkshire – which is located south of Skipton in the very south west corner of this vast constituency - is also attractive to a similar demographic that find Skipton amenable; it is also more working class in origin with much mill-related small sized Victorian terraced housing in villages like Cowling (birthplace of Philip Snowden, Labour's first ever Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Glusburn/Cross Hills. The former has voted Labour recently at ward level and in the 2022 locals election the Aire Valley division was won by the Greens 79%:21% in a straight fight with the Conservatives. The other division here – the wordily named Glusburn, Cross Hills and Sutton in Craven division – has a long history of support for local independents. The whole Aire Valley is now likely to return a significant non-Tory vote at parliamentary level.
Moving now to Ripon, this was always a more genteel place than more industrial Skipton (Ripon also has city status to be exact, as it has a cathedral). Like Harrogate ten miles to the south it developed some identity as a leisure and spa town in the late Victorian age but this never dominated. Today it remains a healthy town with most main services extant and a good mix of housing types. Politically at a local level it has always displayed a residual conservatism and dislike of extremes. The Conservatives are the default option but other avenues emerge. The local Lib Dems got well organised here in the 1990s and more recently a local force, the Ripon Independents, have been successful. In 2022 the Lib Dems returned to prominence by winning the north Ripon division (Ure Bank & Spa) whilst the RIs won the southern division (Minster & Moorside) with nearly 70% of the vote. Just west of Ripon is the delightful and popular National Trust visitor attraction of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal and beyond it is Nidderdale which contains a high level quality pastureland where its well-hewn villages are a mix of farming interests and those with money who have chosen a less intense rural existence. The Nidderdale hub town is the pleasant Pateley Bridge and the first outing of the Pateley Bridge & Nidderdale division in 2022 resulted in a Lib Dem victory, which was something of a shock to local Conservatives. To the north east of Pateley Bridge is the attractive market town (its Market Square is huge) of Masham, home of a famous annual sheep fair. Masham marks the north eastern corner of the constituency. Just outside the town is Swinton Park, which between 1948 and 1975 was the Swinton Conservative College used for training agents and activists. Harold Macmillan was a keen attendee – usually around the 12th August each year. Swinton Park has been owned by the Cunliffe-Lister family (Earls of Swinton) since the 1880s. However, at least one member of the family has deserted the Conservative Party. In 2022 Felicity Cunliffe-Lister stood as an Independent in the Masham & Fountains division polling 30%. When the incumbent councillor died, at the resulting by-election in Feb 2023 the Countess of Swinton (as is her title) stood for the Liberal Democrats in two horse race and won 63%:37%. The Lib Dems now have a good swathe of yellow colouring on the north eastern map of the seat – a complete contrast to earlier times when it was Skipton and Settle which were their heartlands in this seat.
Other than in the aforementioned Aire Valley, the remainder of the constituency is dominated by the large landscapes and moorland mainly contained at the southern end of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Shooting interests matter here with many landed estates such as Swinton and the Duchy of Devonshire land in Wharfedale. The resident population is very dispersed around small farmsteads, small hamlets & villages and the occasional small town such as at Grassington (which features as Darrowby in the re-make of veterinary drama “All Creatures Great and Small”). It is no surprise that the economy here is hugely driven by tourism and agriculture, in particular sheep farming. Politically this means there is strong residual support for the Conservatives nationally whilst locally there was a chequerboard of large area/small electorate wards like Barden Fell or Upper Wharfedale where the winner was pretty much either a Conservative or a small ‘c’ conservative Independent. The move to larger unitary divisions meant it was easier for the Conservatives to corral their support locally – they won the large-sized Wharfedale division with 61% of the vote. In Settle the Liberal Democrats were very well organised from the 1970s until the late 2000s, mainly thanks to the Graham family (more on them shortly) but they only managed third place in 2022 with an easy Tory victory. The Conservatives now dominate this northwestern end of the seat with the territory around Bentham and Ingleton some of its most consistently reliable at parliamentary level. Both of these places are large villages rather than fully functioning towns and they nod more towards the Lune Valley and Lancashire for services, whereas to the east are vast swathes of open moorland whose most notable feature is the bleak but photogenic Ribblehead Viaduct.
Unsurprisingly, Skipton and Ripon provides little excitement to the psephologist. Its sheer size and the fragmented nature of the opposition means it will remain a safe Conservative seat under first past the post. There is a little colour which is worth noting, although it is pre-1983 and no longer relevant. Back in 1973 at the surge of Liberal support, Ripon CC produced one of those string of by-election victories where a safe Tory seat was swung within a matter of a few weeks campaigning. Liberal candidate David Austick was a Leeds bookseller of some scale (Austicks Bookshop in Leeds is well remembered by many) and he took the seat by 946 votes. Unlike other similar gains such as Berwick and Isle of Ely, the Tories managed to claw their way back in Feb 1974 by over 4,000 and then 7,000 in the October. Normal service then resumed and Austick went off to fight Cheadle in 1979.
Also in the early 1970s, over in the Skipton constituency, the Conservatives were facing a real challenge for the first time from the energetic and high-profile Liberal Claire Brooks. With her well trained sister Beth Graham as campaign manager they propelled a sleepy constituency into a hard-fought battle. Brooks cut the Conservative majority to 2,000 in Feb 1974 and did even better in the October (against the trend for Liberals) falling short by only 590. Brooks promptly won a seat on the council and, with her sister turning Settle into a Liberal bastion, it wasn’t surprising that the veteran sitting MP, Burnaby Drayson, did not relish another re-match with Claire Brooks. In 1979 the Conservatives put up a vigorous 36 year old as a replacement, John Watson, who in 1983 became the first MP for Skipton & Ripon. Watson became disillusioned and retired in 1987 to go back into industry (although he later served as a North Yorkshire county councillor) and his replacement was North Essex MEP David Curry. Curry had some connection with the constituency having attended Ripon Grammar School and he was able to carve out a sensible ministerial career under John Major. A devoted Clarkeite and pro-European, he sensibly bowed out in 2010 which is when the current MP Julian Smith was first elected. Smith rose quietly to become Chief Whip and then a short but seemingly successful spell as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland before being dispensed with in February 2020. Smith was re-selected in April 2023 but he might be high on the list for a last minute retirement if the Conservatives are facing the prospect of dark years in opposition.
The electoral history of Skipton and Ripon since 1983 shows very little of significance for this is an ultra-safe Conservative seat. The Tory majority in 1997 was still over 11,000, despite Curry only getting 46.5% of the vote. Since 1983 the Liberals/Lib Dems have corralled most of the anti-Tory vote with some good performances (32% in 2010). However, this quickly unravelled to 7% in 2015 and subsequently an agreement with the Greens not to stand a Lib Dem candidate in 2017 (I wonder what the late Claire Brooks would have made of that?) was nugatory in making the Greens the clear challenger. Labour were the main beneficiary with an 11% vote increase and their performance in 2019 was still good enough to retain second place, despite the return of the Lib Dems. Unsurprisingly Julian Smith cruised to victory with nearly 60% of the vote and a 23,700 majority.
The 2023 boundary changes affecting Skipton and Ripon are pretty minor. There has been a re-shuffling of boundaries largely around the Harrogate/Wetherby corridor in order to create a new cross-North & West Yorkshire seat which was required based on the seat allocation for this configuration. For Skipton and Ripon it means the transfer of the old Bishop Monkton & Newby ward (on its eastern most periphery) into this new seat (Wetherby and Easingwold). It also gains a village – Huby – from Selby and Ainsty in a minor boundary tidy-up to reflect earlier ward boundary changes. This exercise also sees the villages of Ripley (site of another stately home) and Nidd transfer in from Harrogate and Knaresborough with Burton Leonard going the other way. These changes would have shrunk the 2019 Tory majority by around 1,500 or so. Barring a freak by-election in difficult circumstances, this is a seat that will reliably elect Conservatives for many elections to come.
