The election for the first York and North Yorkshire Mayor will take place on Thursday 2nd May 2024.
Whoever is elected will also take on the role of Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner in North Yorkshire. This is an important role, responsible for holding the Chief Constable to account for an efficient and effective local police service. The Commissioner also sets policing and crime priorities via their plan, and oversees the police budget.
Given the persistent volume of raptor persecution incidents in North Yorkshire, going back many, many years, whoever gets this role can have a significant influence on how these crimes are policed (or not, as in this recent case of a poisoned red kite found dead on Swinton Estate – here).
The list of candidates standing for the position can be viewed here:
There are two names that stand out.
One is Keith Tordoff, who I wrote about in 2021 when he was preparing to stand for the role of Police & Crime Commissioner – see here. Keith is an ardent raptor champion and has supported previous campaigns in Nidderdale to catch the notorious raptor (and dog) poisoners on the region’s grouse moors – and has suffered the consequences when his shop was targeted and he also received death threats.
Keith has pledged that if he is elected on 2nd May he intends to establish a steering group within the first 100 days to tackle these wildlife crimes and make sure that North Yorkshire Police are properly resourced to thoroughly investigate crime reports.
The other name that stands out on the list of candidates is Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, a co-Director of Swinton Estate, which has featured many times on this blog, and whose husband, the Earl of Swinton Mark Cunliffe-Lister is the current Chair of the Moorland Association (grouse moor owners’ lobby group) who had the brass neck to appear on Radio 4 last summer and say:
“Clearly, any illegal [hen harrier] persecution is not happening” (unbelievable, but he did say it – see here).
Which of these two candidates do you think is going to address North Yorkshire’s awful reputation for being one of the worst raptor persecution hotspots in the country?
The election takes place on 2nd May 2024. Please ensure you’re eligible to vote – if you’re not already registered, the deadline to register online is midnight on Tues 16th April 2024 (tomorrow night). Register here.
Further details about this election and requirements for voters can be found here.
Raptor Persecution UK 
There is a climate and nature hustings for the mayoral position on Monday 22 April starting at 7 pm. This is a virtual event. Further information and details on how to join can be found at http://www.nyclimatecoalition.org/climate-nature-hustings. Please note – the information suggests that the Green Party candidate won’t attend but he has recently posted that he will be taking part after all.
Isn’t it just appalling that Cunliffe-Lister is the official Liberal Democrat candidate?
Thanks for this. I was wondering who to vote for. Tordoff it is then! However, I also think that splitting the “anyone-other-than-a-Tory” vote makes a Tory victory even more likely. North Yorkshire is the Toriest of all the Tory shires.
I won’t have the vote I don’t live in the area but Tordoff is the obvious choice of the two. Who wants yet another xxxxx xxxxx with head in the sand about the very real and worsening situations of raptor persecutions
I agree with Keith, more than suprised that Felicity Cunnliffe-Lister is the Lib Dem candidate. I thought it was odd that the prospective parliamentary Lib Dem candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough had aligned himself with her, pity really because I thought I had found somebody to vote for at the General Election (hopefully to unseat the Tory incumbant), so he’s off the list as well. Let’s hope Mr. Tordoff gets some support but I doubt if he will get the position.