Date set for Knaresborough Scriven Park by-election
It is following the resignation of Harrogate district councillor Samantha Mearns
Last updated 25th Jun 2021
The date for a by-election has been set following the resignation of Harrogate district councillor Samantha Mearns.
Councillor Mearns announced at the weekend that she was stepping away from her Knaresborough Scriven Park ward due to family reasons after holding the seat as a member of the Conservative party since 2018.
A by-election has now been officially called by Harrogate Borough Council which, if contested, will be held on 29 July.
The by-election is being run by the council and nomination papers are available during normal office hours from the Returning Officer at the Harrogate Civic Centre on St Lukes Avenue.
Completed nomination papers must be delivered by hand to the same address between 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, before 2 July.
Announcing her resignation in a letter to residents, councillor Mearns said she was moving to Wales to be closer to her family after her younger brother died and her mother was diagnosed with cancer.
She said it had been a “great honour” to serve the area where she had lived for more than 18 years.
Councillor Mearns said: “In many people’s lives things happen that change the direction of their lives. This is the same with me. Not too long before the pandemic struck, my younger brother – my only sibling – died after a relatively short but terrible illness.
“Shortly after, and during the pandemic, my mother was diagnosed with cancer.
“Having lost my brother and faced with potentially losing my mother in a short time made me look at what I needed to do with my life to do the right thing by my family.”
The by-election will be the second held in Harrogate this year after Conservative councillor Matt Scott last month won the Bilton and Nidd Gorge seat on North Yorkshire County Council following the death of Liberal Democrat councillor Geoff Webber.