THE Conservatives have lost overall control of Craven District Council.

Although the party remains the largest on the council, with 15 members out of a possible 30, Conservative, John Dawson, the council’s deputy leader, lost his Skipton North seat to the Green’s David Noland.

Having just half of the seats on the council will potentially make life difficult for the Conservatives, although Independent member, Stephen Place is ‘aligned’ to the party.

Conservatives won four of the 11 seats up for election, with five going to Independent candidates, and one each for Labour and Green. The Liberal Democrats and the UK Independence Party failed to win a single seat, with UKIP no longer having a member on the council and the Liberal Democrats, just one, in Eric Jacquin.

Conservative Simon Myers held onto his Gargrave and Malhamdale seat, beating Labour’s Paula Derry by 698 votes to 287, and Chris Harbron, also for the Conservatives, held onto his Skipton East seat with 403 votes, compared to 291 for Liberal Democrat Matthew Pickard, Cheryl Hounslow for UKIP with 202 votes and Gerardo Iannaccone for Labour with 161.

Sue Metcalfe took the Upper Wharfedale seat for the Conservatives, a seat not due for re-election but made vacant following the resignation of former councillor Tanya Graham, a Conservative. Meanwhile, in Bentham, Stuart Handley retained the seat for the Conservatives, replacing Ian Thompson, who did not stand for re-election.

David Noland, a teacher, will become the second Green Party member on the council, joining Cllr Andy Brown, who represents Aire Valley with Lothersdale.

Mr Noland says he joined the Green Party because he feels it is ‘important to be responsible for the way we treat the world around us’.

“I am determined to carry that same strong sense of responsibility into working as a local councillor,” he said.

John Dawson, who while losing his seat on Craven Council, retained his seat on Skipton Town Council, thanked his supporters and wished Mr Noland well.

“I am disappointed not to have been re-elected to Craven Council but I am pleased that the Conservative team there will be able to continue the good work being done to benefit the people of Craven, including on Skipton Town Hall, the canal towpath, the Station area and hopefully shortly the new Local Plan being adopted.

“I enjoyed serving the people of Skipton North and, as deputy leader, the whole of Craven. I look forward to continuing to serve Skipton North on Skipton Town Council.”

Labour, who put forward 11 candidates, won just one seat, with Peter Madeley re-elected in Skipton West.

In Embsay with Eastby, Independent member, Brian Shuttleworth, romped home with 608 votes compared to 77 for Labour’s Bob Holland.

Former councillor, Mark Wheeler, returns to the council as an Independent to represent Glusburn, with 621 votes beating sitting councillor Roger Baxandall, for UKIP, who managed 324 votes and Labour’s Paul Routledge, with 106.

The Liberal Democrats, failed to pick up a single seat despite fielding three candidates, and the UK Independence Party, which put up four candidates, lost in Roger Baxandall (Glusburn) its one member on the council.

Results: Embsay with Eastby: Brian Shuttleworth (Ind) 608; Bob Holland (Lab) 77. Gargrave and Malhamdale: Simon Myers (Con) 698; Paula Derry (Lab) 287. Glusburn: Mark Wheeler (Ind) 621; Roger Baxandall (UKIP) 324; Paul Routledge (Lab) 106.

Skipton East: Chris Harbron (Con) 403; Matthew Pickard (Lib Dem) 281; Cheryl Hounslow (UKIP) 202; Gérardo Manuel Iannaccone (Lab) 161. Skipton North: David Noland (Green) 561; John Dawson (Con) 529; Adrian Lunn (Lab) 218. Skipton South: Robert Heseltine (Ind) 401; Brian McDaid (Lab) 212; William Morton (Green) 160. Skipton West: Peter Madeley (Lab) 504; Christopher Clark (Con) 289; James Millar (UKIP) 195. Sutton-in-Craven: Stephen Morrell (Ind) 670; John Pope (Lab) 134. Upper Wharfedale: Sue Metcalfe (Con) 480; Anna Craven (Green) 177; Sian Wheal (Lib Dem) 59; Virpi Kettu (Lab) 42. West Craven: Richard Pringle (Ind) 370; Alex Bentley (Ind) 153; Geraldine Reardon (Lab) 95. Bentham: Stuart Handley (Con) 397; Mark Christie (Lib Dem) 326; David Grace (Lab) 224; Lynda Heath (UKIP) 123.

The elections saw Craven District Council carry out a voter ID pilot, with residents asked to provide either one form of photo ID, or two forms of non-photo ID, at the polling station before they were able to vote.

Overall turnout was 37 per cent, with initial figures showing 48 voters out of 7,001 - or 0.69 per cent - turned away at the polling station.

Paul Shevlin, returning officer for Craven, said: “We’re pleased that the vast majority of residents brought ID to vote at the local elections. We carried out a far-reaching communications campaign, which included writing to every household explaining the voter ID pilot and informing them about the wide range of acceptable identification. We also offered to provide a certificate of identification to anyone who had no ID at all, but we received no applications for these.

“It’s also a good sign that the turnout was very similar to the last comparable elections in 2016, and actually increased in some wards, showing that people were not deterred from voting. This is a particularly positive result for Craven, given that the national turnout has been low this year.

“It’s unfortunate if anybody who wanted to vote was unable to do so, but we’re pleased that these numbers were very small.

“We took part in this pilot scheme because voter ID is likely to be introduced across the country in the future, and we wanted Craven to have a say on how this will work. We will be feeding back our experience and residents’ feelings about this scheme to the Government and they will take all this into account when developing any future proposals.”