Yorkshire Party (a strong local democratic voice)

Yorkshire Dales, Ava Lily

With all the media hype about stronger powers for local mayors, it seems apt to profile a few local political parties. This does not necessarily mean they want to become a separate country (!) but they wish to gain more local powers, to help people who live in local communities.

Yorkshire Party is a regional political party for one of England’s largest counties. It’s home to over 6 million people, quite a few cities and three National Parks (the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors and parts of the Peak District). Plus it has a stunning coastline on the East coast.

So it’s important that parliament in London listens to what local people have to say. As they have real issues from habitat loss to ocean pollution, that need addressing in this beautiful part of the world.

What are Yorkshire Party policies?

This is a left-of-centre party that has quite a few official policies:

• More investment in public transport
• Zero tolerance for pollution
• Retain the ban on fracking (this is to retrieve shale gas which makes tap water go on fire and has links to cancer). This has been supported in the past by many ‘not in my backyard’ MPs like Liz Truss. After she left power, Rishi Sunak did to his credit, reverse the policy.

Our fields aren’t for drilling – they’re for living. Yorkshire party

Who runs Yorkshire Party?

Leader Laurence Waterhouse trained as an oceangrapher and hydrographic surveyor (maps underwater environments) who spent 30 years working with British Waterways, before taking early retirement. He is an expert on preventing floods and climate adaptation. This all sounds very good!

After working for a Labour MP, he then joined the Yorkshire Party and even stood as a candidate against Rishi Sunak in the 2019 election. In his spare time he enjoys travel writing and is author of a novel set in 1940s Majorca Whispers in the Pines (we would link to it, but can’t find a listing!)

The argument that Yorkshire only receives ‘scraps from London’s table (in an area that has almost the same population as the capital city) is why there is a regional party in the first place. There’s a public spending shortfall of £14 billion across Yorkshire each year.

It has stood in two mayoral elections, and had over 5000 votes.