The Conservative Party has been out campaigning, also wheeling out its ‘big guns,’ in the Selby and Ainsty by-election.

Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands MP was in town yesterday (Thur) to support Tory candidate, Claire Holmes.

Mr Hands said: “We’re fighting very hard to hold Selby and Ainsty and she’s a fantastic local candidate.

“She’s a Yorkshire councillor, very, very committed to the area and I know she’s going to be a really, strong capable representative for Selby & Ainsty in Parliament.

Selby and Ainsty by-election: Keir Starmer and Angela Raynor in town

“And we’ve got a good story to tell about protecting our green spaces and bringing the new diagnostic centre to Selby War Memorial hospital. There are very good reasons for people here to be voting Conservative on July 20th.”

Claire said: “My promise to the people of Selby & Ainsty is I will follow through on the five priorities Rishi Sunak and the Government have identified because they are going to have a positive impact on people locally.

“If we halve inflation, reduce debt and grow the economy, it is going to make life better for absolutely everybody and bring the investment Selby & Ainsty needs.

“It is why it is so important to have a representative here who is focused on Selby & Ainsty and I can go down to Westminister to shout for us and say we want more investment.

“We’ve got good investment – we’ve got £22m for Selby train station, we’ve got £16m for flood defences, we’ve got a community diagnostic centre – but we want more and that’s why I think i’m the best person to go and stand up for Selby & Ainsty.”

The Thursday visit came as Selby also saw Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and deputy leader Angela Rayner also descend on the town.

When the pair arrived, a delegation of 20-or-so banner-waving Tories were there to ‘welcome’ them.

Both Sir Keir and Angela good-naturedly walked over to chat to their opponents, before meeting up with their candidate Keir Mather.