Ex Harrogate MP takes on new role - chair of Harrogate & Knaresborough Conservatives

“We’re in a different place politically now from the last time elections were held for North Yorkshire Council in 2022 at the time of Boris and Partygate”

Former Harrogate MP Andrew Jones is to “re-enter politics” in the town though he is keen to stress he is not seeking re-election as MP.

Talking to the Harrogate Advertiser, the three times government minister said he still loved the town he lived in and was delighted to have been named the new chair of Harrogate & Knaresborough Conservatives.

He admitted that he had never really stopped being involved with politics since he lost comprehensively to Lib Dem Tom Gordon in the July 2024 general election after 14 years in the seat.

But he remained passionate about playing a part in making “this great town of Harrogate even better”.

First up, selecting the candidates to ensure the Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative Party “campaigned vigorously” in next May’s North Yorkshire Council elections.

“I am retired but my interest in politics has never ended,” said Mr Jones who was first elected the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough in May 2010 and went in to win a further three elections prior to the Starmer landslide in 2024.

“I have been involved in party work at a national level and local level since then.

“It takes quite a bit to close down a parliamentary office but I believe this is a moment of renewal for the Conservative Party.”

Having just signed a new lease on the Tories’ Harrogate base at 57 East Parade, Andrew Jones, who accompanied Tory Party leader Kemi Badenoch round Harrogate earlier this year, says he and his team of volunteers are already hard at work selecting candidates for next year’s local elections.

“We’ve got a big set of local elections in 2027,” said Mr Jones who was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at Department for Transport, Exchequer Secretary to HM Treasury and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport during the revolving door of Tory Prime Ministers in the previous Government.

“The Lib Dems currently dominate the seats in Harrogate and Knaresborough but we are hoping to make a dent in that.

“We’re in a different place politically now from the last time elections were held for North Yorkshire Council in 2022 at the height of Boris and Partygate.

“I have left politics in terms of being MP but my interest in politics as a whole and my desire to work on behalf of the Conservative Party and the area I live in has not waned.

“But I am not seeking to come back as the town’s MP.

“I want to help train up the next generation of Tory candidates and help renew and reboot the Tory Party.”