Rival candidates revealed to contest Harrogate district seat in North Yorkshire County Council

The by-election for the Masham and Fountains division will take place on Thursday, February 9, and is being held following the death of long-serving Conservative councillor Margaret Atkinson.

Felicity Cunliffe-Lister will stand for the Liberal Democrats, and Brooke Victoria Hull for the Conservative Party.

Coun Margaret Atkinson was appointed to the role in May last year to serve as the last ever chair of the county council before it is replaced by a new unitary authority on April 1.

However, it was confirmed on November 14 that Coun Atkinson, who had served on the county council for nine years, had died suddenly.

Coun David Ireton, who was appointed in May as the deputy chair of the county council, has assumed the responsibilities of the authority’s chair.

Coun Ireton was due to take on the chairmanship of the new North Yorkshire Council, which will be formed when the county council and the seven district and borough authorities merge from April 1 this year.

North Yorkshire Council, a single new council for everyone in North Yorkshire, will start in April, replacing the current county council and seven district and borough councils.

The new authority aims to bring together all the best of the existing council services, working in close partnership with City of York Council to unlock a devolution deal for York and North Yorkshire.