‘End of an era’ as veteran councillor announces retirement after 53 years

One of the country’s longest-serving councillors will step down at the next election after more than five decades in local government.

David Jeffels, believed to be the longest-serving senior authority councillor in the country, will step down from his role as a councillor for Derwent Valley and Moor next May, bringing to a close a 53-year career in local government that has included meetings with members of the Royal Family and thousands of council meetings.

82-year-old Coun Jeffels has continuously represented the rural Derwent Valley villages since 1973, when he was elected to Greater Scarborough Shadow Council, before serving on North Yorkshire Council and the North York Moors National Park Authority.

Now an Honorary Alderman, he reached the highest position in North Yorkshire’s local government world by becoming Chairman of the County Council and was the youngest Mayor of Scarborough in 150 years.

The National Association of Councillors has said it is not aware of another elected councillor of a senior authority who had served more than half a century.

He cut his teeth in public service as a member of Hutton Buscel Parish Council on which he served for 37 years, including several as chairman, before joining the borough authority.

“It has been a great privilege to have served this lovely part of Yorkshire and the county as a whole, working with dedicated people, especially parish councillors, who share my enthusiasm for its residents and their well-being”, said Coun Jeffels, who is looking forward to sharing more time with Marilyn, and their son, Lyndon, daughter Siobhan, and their four grandchildren.

He chaired a number of the council’s committees, was deputy leader of the borough council, and, with his wife, Marilyn, his Mayoress, attended more than 700 engagements as Mayor, and their civic roles saw them meet some 12 members of the Royal Family, including the now King and Queen, three times when NYCC chairman.

Coun Jeffels was also a prominent figure outside his council division, serving as Chairman of the British Resorts Association, and of the Yorkshire Rural Community Council and its successor, Rural Action Yorkshire.

Alongside his career in public life, the senior Conservative councillor was also a leading newspaper journalist for five decades, working initially for the Scarborough Evening News and Mercury, then for Westminster Press, North of England Newspapers and the Yorkshire Post Group and later as a freelance journalist for the national media.

Over the years, his main interests have included tourism, rural life and its economy, the North York Moors National Park Authority, where he is the longest-serving member, and the well-being of the villages in the Derwent Valley and Moors.

He currently serves as North Yorkshire Council’s flood prevention champion and has helped direct tens of thousands of pounds in grant funding to village projects across his division.