THE vast majority of parish councillors in the York area will be elected next month without ever having to campaign for votes, new figures have revealed.

Of the 31 parish councils within the City of York Council boundary, only two – Askham Richard and Dunnington – will have contested elections on May 5. A total of 206 out of 226 parish councillors will be elected uncontested, said Neil Barnes, Labour’s candidate for Hull Road at the City of York Council election, who raised the issue.

“I think it is rather concerning for local democracy that more than 90 per cent of York’s parish councillors are elected without contest this year,” he said. “I know there are many good parish councillors but an election contest would give good one a mandate to drive through their work.”

He said parish councillors would control £603,000 of council taxpayer’s money in the coming year, an increase of £21,000 on last year, but mostly without facing the public vote. “People will ask: where is the accountability for their parish council tax precept?”

Sheena Spence, chief officer of representative body, the Yorkshire Local Councils Association, said the lack of contested parish elections was “disappointing”, but said many parishes had tried very hard to encourage candidates to come forward and local people had had full opportunity to stand.

“It’s a great shame. It’s apathy,” she said, although she conceded many people were also often very busy nowadays, sometimes doing two or three jobs.

Meanwhile, Labour group leader James Alexander said he was concerned that in Heworth Without, one of the parish councillors elected without a contest is BNP member Cathy Smurthwaite. “I think residents of Heworth Without may have concerns about a portion of their council tax being spent by a member of the BNP elected without a contest,” he said.

Ms Smurthwaite was unavailable for comment but Adam Walker, the acting regional organiser for the BNP in Yorkshire, said: “People are often unelected in parish councils but as soon as it is a BNP candidate people react like this. It’s unbelievable – these people start to point the finger whenever we are seen to do something good in our communities.”

York Press: The Press - Comment

Election apathy is a cause for shame

The local elections are still more than a week off. But already we know that the people of Heworth Without have managed to elect a BNP parish councillor – even before a vote has been cast.

That’s because not enough candidates came forward in the parish for contested elections to be necessary. Every parish council candidate was therefore elected unopposed.

It’s not only in Heworth that that has happened. Of the 31 parish councils within the City of York boundary, only two – Askham Richard and Dunnington – have enough candidates to require contested elections on May 5.

In all, a total of 206 out of 226 parish councillors across the city will be elected unopposed.

That is a clear expression of political apathy – a sign of the way our collective disillusionment with politicians is affecting our faith in the value and importance of local democracy. But it is also a real shame – and deeply worrying. Parish councillors in York alone control £603,000 of council taxpayer’s money: that is, your money. And yet, because no one can be bothered standing for election, the vast majority of us will have no say in who spends that money on our behalf.

Even worse, perhaps, political apathy at the local level leaves the door open for those with extreme views to get a foothold, without even having to argue their case.

That’s not just a shame: it’s shameful.