Thrilled to double majority at election

I am thrilled that the Conservative majority in Skipton and Ripon more than doubled and that we increased our share of the vote on five years ago.

I want to thank the local Conservative Party, my parliamentary and campaign teams and the fantastic support that I have had from so many people both within my party and beyond during the election and since 2010. Congratulations as well to all the Conservative councillors who were elected or re-elected to Craven Council and Skipton Town Council last week.

It is an honour and a privilege to be the Member of Parliament for this stunning constituency and to represent the incredible people who live and work in it. I look forward to serving and representing everyone, no matter how they voted, in the coming years and would encourage anyone who needs my help now, or in the future, to get in touch.

Julian Smith Member of Parliament for Skipton and Ripon Churchill House Otley Street Skipton Working for all Sir - I would like to sincerely thank the 21,766 voters who chose to re-elect me to serve the Keighley and Ilkley parliamentary constituency for another five years. I also assure those who did not support me that I will continue to work equally hard for them.

It was a long and exhausting campaign for everyone involved but always conducted in the best traditions of British democracy and fair play. For this, I would like to pay particular tribute to my opponents. They fought the election on the issues of greatest importance to local people and were a credit to their respective political parties. I wish each one of them well in the future.

Despite our successes since 2010 with unemployment in Keighley and Ilkley falling by more than 40 per cent, wages going up and taxes going down for tens of thousands of people here, I know life continues to be tough for many individuals and families.

With a majority Conservative government having now been elected, I look forward to devoting my energies towards securing more jobs and more investment for Keighley and Ilkley as we work to further rebalance our economy and continue to close the North-South gap.

Kris Hopkins Member of Parliament for Keighley & Ilkley Churchill House North Street Keighley Skipton support Sir - As the Conservative candidates in the four Skipton Wards, we wish to thank the voters for their support in the recent elections.

All the elected Conservative councillors on Craven Council and on Skipton Town Council commit ourselves to serve all the residents of Skipton in the coming years in the best interests of our town.

We would also like to pay tribute, on her retirement from Craven Council, to Marcia Turner for her 18 years of devoted service to the people of Skipton North.

Wendy Clark Chris Clark John Dawson Chris Harbron Pam Heseltine James M Stafford Paul Whitaker Conservative candidates in Skipton Time to regroup Sir - On May 7 we had an election and a chance to vote for a new government, for a new political process and for change. In a democracy, of course, you always get a choice and the electorate made that choice and I hope for the sake of our country, we made the right choice.

UKIP, as most know, took a strong line on regulating immigration and controlling numbers entering the UK. We believed that the impact this would have on schools, housing, the NHS and in fact our complete infrastructure, would be substantial.

Please remember the promises/pledges made by our Tory government to deal with all these issues and many more whist slashing £12billion off the public spending purse. We need now to ensure that unlike past rhetoric they actually do what they say.

Congratulations are in order for Roger Baxandall, who was appointed to represent UKIP as a councillor on Craven Council with almost 30 per cent of the vote. I’m confident that Roger will play a key role in the future development of the area and will help UKIP build its foundation in local Craven politics.

Many of the almost 8,000 voters who were good enough to vote for me and UKIP in the General Election will be saddened to see Julian Smith not only returned to Westminster, but do so with an increased majority - please do not despair, our day will come.

I would like to thank those individuals who had the courage of their conviction not only to vote for UKIP against a tide of panic and alarm (convincingly broadcast by the Conservatives) of a Labour/SNP coalition government, but to do so under such pressure – thank you.

We will now regroup and review what we can learn from the past and we can do to move forward in the future. We will be holding regular meetings in the Rendezvous Hotel in Skipton and I look forward to meeting and greeting you there soon.

Alan Henderson, UKIP candidate Skipton & Ripon Constituency, Bishop Thornton Harrogate Election success Sir - Could I, through your pages, thank everybody who helped my successful election campaign for the Glusburn Ward on Craven District Council.

These include my agent, helpers, and colleagues, not forgetting everyone who voted for me; thank you.

I will endeavour to do my utmost in all aspects of my responsibility to the constituents of Glusburn and Cross Hills.

Just one final thought; UKIP nearly four million votes = one MP, SNP 1.5 million votes = 56 MPs?

Cllr Roger Baxandall North View Cross Hills Hit hard at poll Sir - I would like to thank all those who voted Liberal Democrat on May 7.

I would like to thank all Liberal Democrat activists who have supported my campaign across this vast and scenically wonderful constituency.

I would like to thank my fellow candidates for a fair contest and healthy debate at hustings. It was particularly good to see the engagement of young people at school events. I wish Julian Smith well for his future term.

I would like to thank the election office staff at Craven District Council for their hard work in organising local and general elections on one day. Also all those who worked on polling stations and at the count.

As I have said at local hustings it was not easy being the junior partner in a coalition. Now nationally, the Liberal Democrats have been hit hard at this election. The party has lost many long-standing MPs who have worked for their communities, some for decades.

Nevertheless, the Liberal Democrats, whilst in government, introduced Liberal Democrat policies that have made a difference including the increase in the lower income tax threshold, a triple lock guarantee on pensions, shared parental leave and equal marriage.

Personally, I have been involved in policy developments within the party which, again, have made a difference as, being in government, they could be put into practice. They include the pupil premium, plastic bag tax and ending the detention of children for immigration purposes.

There were many policies that we wished to introduce in a second term in government, including votes at 16, our five Green Laws and a Digital Bill of Rights. We remain committed to Britain being in Europe.

Although the Liberal Democrats have been hit hard across the UK our membership has grown by several thousand since election day, including a number in Skipton and Ripon. Locally, with re-elected Skipton councillor Eric Jacquin, and nationally the work of the Liberal Democrats continues to make Britain a fairer society with opportunities for all.

Jacquie Bell Skipton and Ripon Liberal Democrats Belhaven Dunbar Green shoots Sir - Could I please thank all of your readers who were amongst the 3,114 people who voted for the Green Party in the Parliamentary elections and also to those who voted Green in the local elections.

It has been fascinating to stand as an MP and the hustings were a really great opportunity to put arguments that really matter to me. I was also really grateful to your paper for providing an opportunity to put the arguments and let people make a fair decision.

One question I was asked at the hustings was how long it would take to move over to a low-energy and low-resource economy. I said that since it had taken over 100 years to get so dependent on fossils it would take at least 30 years to get out of the problem.

When you think about the levels of CO2 already in the atmosphere and the fact that none of us know what this will do to the climate the implications of this answer worried me greatly. Standing for Parliament has been a fantastic opportunity to put the case for an urgent response.

I remain passionately convinced that we can make mistakes over many things in life and repair them later but if we destroy the environment that we live in we might not be able to recover from the error. Let us hope the successful candidate listens to the concerns the Greens raised and puts the case powerfully on our communities behalf in Parliament.

Well, I always was an optimist.

Thank you again to all who voted for us and many who did not but engaged in interesting discussions.

Andy Brown Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Skipton and Ripon in 2015 Main Street Cononley Making history Sir - Just a short note of thanks first and foremostly to those who voted Green in the recent Town Council elections. You have made history by returning the first Green town councillor for Skipton. Mighty oaks from acorns do grow seems fitting. I will respect your confidence and trust in me to try to do the very best to protect and improve this great town.

Thanks also goes to the vote counters for what is a difficult enough task without us candidates scrutinising your work. Grateful to the police for their scrutiny of the democratic process and checking that I was behaving myself at the Town Hall and Aireville Swimming Pool polling stations.

The Green vote across the whole of Craven, at national, district and parish level demonstrates that many people refuse to believe the fallacious scaremongering and ‘ya boo’ politics of the four (UKIP included) main political parties.

There are other and better ways to run our communities, if only we believe first and foremost believe in ourselves, rather than failed politicians and failed ideas.

Cllr James J Paton, Green Party Water Street Skipton Hopes for future Sir - I would like to thank the people of Gargrave and Malhamdale, who voted for me in the local election, and congratulate Simon Myers on being returned as the councillor I very much enjoyed meeting and speaking to the people of Gargrave, and hope one day to serve as a councillor on Craven District Council Joe Dillon Hammerton Drive Hellifield l Election round-ups: Pages 25-27 Rare kindness Sir - Last week I was waiting for a bus to Barnoldswick outside Morrisons, with four heavy shopping bags.

Just before my bus arrived a young man from Ermysted’s joined me at the bus stop. As the bus pulled up he asked if I would like help getting onto the bus with my bags.

Promptly picking them all up he carried them onto the bus, asking the driver politely if he would kindly wait whilst he carried my shopping down the bus to where I sat, because he wasn’t staying on the bus, he was waiting for the Clitheroe bus.

I didn’t get his name, but what a lovely, kind, thoughtful young man. It’s very rare these days that something like that happens.

Susan Hopkins Church Street Barnoldswick Diabetes anger Sir - In her recent letter, Katie Hall of Diabetes UK is inviting readers to support her organisation by running in the Plusnet Yorkshire Marathon in October. It is claimed that the money raised will be used to “provide vital information and support to local people with diabetes”.

On the face of it Diabetes UK is doing a great job but before agreeing to participate in the marathon, here is some information which readers may wish to consider.

According to the Diabetes UK website: “At the moment, there isn’t a simple cure for diabetes.”

This is absolute rubbish. There is ample research and literally hundreds of individuals who have cured themselves by the simple procedure of reducing the amount of carbohydrate-containing foods which include sugar, potatoes, chapattis, rice, noodles, pasta and breakfast cereals. The rationale is sound. These foods are broken down to glucose which is absorbed into blood and if there is excessive then ultimately the result is Type 2 Diabetes. As the cause is removed this means that the disease is effectively cured.

Diabetes UK advises us that these starchy foods are essential because they are needed by the body to provide energy.

According to the website: “Carbohydrate is a nutrient that is an important source of energy in the diet. All carbohydrates are broken down into glucose which is essential fuel for the body, especially the brain.”

It goes on to advise that we should limit our intake of saturated fat and choose the ‘low fat’ versions where possible.

This is more rubbish. The body is perfectly capable of using fat as a source of energy, although it may take a few days to adapt. Carbohydrates are not required. There is overwhelming evidence that people can lead a perfectly healthy life with a minimal amount of carbohydrates in their diet. The brain can utilise ketones (which are derived from fat) as a source of energy.

Low-fat foods are disastrous for diabetics because the fat is often replaced by sugar which makes the disease even worse.

Dr John Briffa has described the Diabetes UK approach to nutrition as “unscientific, counter-intuitive, and likely to worsen blood sugar control and increase the risk of complications”.

We need to know why Diabetes UK promotes information which is not helpful and may even be damaging to those who follow the advice.

Verner Wheelock Glusburn Grateful to hospital Sir - I hope that you will be able to publish this letter of gratitude to the staff at Airedale General Hospital I am 86 and have recently had an emergency visit to the Stroke Unit and Ward 5 at AGH, following a TIA/minor stroke.

At all times I was treated with extreme consideration, care and expertise. All procedures were explained clearly to myself and daughter, with great empathy. I felt valued and reassured throughout my visit and can only give the highest praise to all staff concerned. In fact, apart from the circumstances - I quite enjoyed my day out.

We are indeed most fortunate to have AGH to turn to in our hour of need. It would have been extremely distressing for me to have had to travel to an alternative hospital in Bradford.

Val Peet Embsay Helpers indeed Sir - On Wednesday, April 22, we were passing through Skipton on our way home.

On Swadford Street my wife sat on the small wall outside Bizzie Lizzies and said she felt unwell.

She passed out and two ladies came to help me.

One helped me to lift her up and the other rang for an ambulance.

When the rapid response car arrived she parked outside Bizzie Lizzies. A girl from the shop came out and brought a chair and later, when the response lady wanted to lay her down to do work, the girl from Bizzie Lizzies went to get towels to put her head on.

This lady was called Emily, and I am afraid I did not get the other two names.

The lady who rang disappeared when they came and other one went when the ambulance crew arrived.

Could you please find space to thank the two ladies, also the rapid response lady (red hair) and he man who called the ambulance - I have already contacted Bizzie Lizzies about Emily and her friend.

My wife was in Airedale A&E but was released to go by about 6pm. My thanks to all concerned.

M Dale Hill Street Cleckheaton Living with condition Sir - “When my ME was at its worst, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t go out. Even washing my hair was tiring.” This is what one woman living with the chronic, disabling condition Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) told us about her experience for May’s ME Awareness Month.

On top of symptoms including pain, cognitive difficulties and post-exertional malaise – the body’s inability to recover after expending even small amounts of energy – people with ME often face a lack of understanding about the condition from those around them.

How does it feel to live with this every day? You can find out at www.actionforme.org.uk/get-the-facts Sonya Chowdhury Chief Executive, Action for ME Temple Street, Keynsham