Tory quits as leader after rivals push for increase in council tax
THE LEADER of Conservativerun Ryedale District Council has resigned in protest after councillors voted to increase council tax.
Keane Duncan, one of the youngest council leaders in the country, resigned alongside Deputy Leader Steve Arnold at the beginning of a council meeting last night.
Coun Duncan had advocated a council tax freeze for 2021/22 but other council members voted against and chose to increase it to the equivalent of an extra £5 for a Band D property.
Coun Duncan, 26, told councillors: “The council tax increase approved by Liberal, Liberal Democrat and Independent councillors has come as a cruel and unnecessary blow in a year when many families are struggling so much as a result of the pandemic.
“I can not in good conscience stand by and watch as they push
through this unpopular hike in council tax.
“Therefore, I am tonight taking a stand by announcing my immediate resignation as leader of the council in protest at their disgraceful and greedy act.”
He added: “In this year, of all years, they could have given residents a break but instead they chose to add to the burden.” Coun Duncan remains as leader of the council’s 10-member Conservative group.
He joined the council while he was still a university student in 2015.
Under Coun Duncan’s leadership, the council have championed the East-West model for the long-planned restructure of North Yorkshire authorities.
The model would see Craven, Harrogate, Richmondshire and Hambleton join together to form a unitary council in the West, with a population of 363,000, and Selby, City of York, Ryedale and Scarborough join together to form a unitary council in the East, with a population of 465,000.
A separate plan submitted is a county plan, which would have just one authority for North Yorkshire’s 600,000 population, with City of York Council allowed to remain separate.