Views of Ryedale

RYEDALE is a huge, rural seat that, despite the twin hammer-blows of floods and foot and mouth, remains a pleasant and prosperous part of the world. Boasting some of the most impressive and unspoilt scenery in the country it has usually, though not always, remained loyal to the Conservatives.

The constituency covers a huge chunk of North Yorkshire, from the northern suburbs of York, past Malton and Pickering to the east coast 40 miles away. The North York Moors National Park also falls within Ryedale's boundaries.

Industry is mainly agriculture and tourism, although conifer plantations and limestone quarries exist near Pickering and there are light industries in some towns, as well as a thoroughbred racehorse training centre in Malton. The seat also boasts Castle Howard - the real star of the TV's Brideshead Revisited.

We spoke to four local people about the issues that matter to them.

Elizabeth Robson

Mother of four grown-up children Elizabeth, 57, who works in Helmsley's Old Police Station caf, admits she won't be voting this year because she's too disgusted with politicians. She would vote Liberal Democrat if she thought they had a realistic chance of winning, she says - but is disillusioned by both Labour and the Tories.

"Blair and whatever you call that other one, they're just arguing with each other like spoiled kids," she says.

What she'd really like Labour to do is ban fox-hunting. But she doesn't believe they will.

Business at the caf is beginning to pick up after being hit by foot and mouth. But Mrs Robson, even though she's a keen dog walker, believes the government has relaxed its guard too soon by beginning to open footpaths already. She's worried the disease could flare up again - and says paths should remain closed until every last trace of foot and mouth has been eradicated. In Bilsdale above Helmsley there are lots farms, all close together, she points out. "If Helmsley gets it, they could all be wiped out."

On local issues, she'd like to see more in Helmsley for young people to do - and better rural transport.

She is also angry about a campaign to drive bikers out of the town. They're friendly, polite and do no harm, she says.

Malcolm Braithwaite

Before taking over as landlord of the Royal Oak in Malton's Market Place in the late 1990s, 47-year-old Lofty worked at Malton Bacon Factory for 24 years.

Married to Ros, and with two daughters aged 17 and 13, he rates Malton and Norton a good place to live. "It is a nice community, with a lot of community spirit," he says.

But it's not perfect. He'd like something done to make the two towns a bit more lively. "We could do with more facilities - especially for younger people," he says. "There's nothing for them to do, so they just stand around on street corners." Some kind of coffee bar in the town centre, a place where teenagers could go to play pool or other pub games in a non-drinking environment, would fit the bill, he thinks.

He'd also like to see a nightclub in town. "It would bring more people in."

He wasn't directly affected by last year's floods, but living in Norton he's fully aware how devastating they were for many people. Something, he says, has to be done to improve the towns' flood defences. He also thinks we should stop building new homes on flood plains.

Foot and mouth has affected his business over the last couple of months - but not as much as for some people, he concedes. He believes the government was slow to react, and that if it had been quicker the outbreak could have been contained much sooner.

Lofty makes no secret of his voting intentions on June 7: Conservative.

John Clark

John works a 95-acre organic farm at Cropton Mill near Pickering. The benefits of living in such an isolated spot are being able to commune with nature, he says: the drawbacks the fact you need a car to get anywhere. There's no decent public transport.

John, 54, who lives with his partner Cathy and two children, admits he doesn't know who he'll vote for. None of the candidates, he says, addresses any of the issues he's most concerned about. He'd like to see the election debate widened.

He's most worried about what he sees as destruction of the countryside. A combination of unfair farming subsidies, bureaucracy and farming quotas are driving small farmers out of business, he says - so that giant farms are swallowing the landscape.

"We used to have flower meadows and a vast range of plant species. Now we've got huge fields of rye grass, barley or oil seed rape covering vast areas. The result is not only a reduction in plant types, but a decline in skylarks, song thrushes, robins, all down to a half or a third of what they were twenty years ago."

The issues he would like to see politicians discussing include global warming, overseas aid, the environment, food miles, reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and a reversal of the trend towards factory farming. No politicians are discussing any of these - leaving him stumped, he says.

For this election, he feels he may be forced into the UK Independence camp - simply because he hopes greater independence from Europe might at least mean a return to smaller, more local farms.

Clive Vaughan

Art gallery owner Clive Vaughan, 55, who's married with no children, admits he has missed his beloved Fort William since moving from Scotland to Malton in October last year - just in time for the great floods.

But he admits he can make a much better living running Talents Fine Art than he was able to from his gallery in the Highlands town. There, he was making a "Third World income in a Third World part of the country", he says. Malton is much more prosperous. He likes the people, too.

He does worry that the town is over-reliant on farming and farmers. It needs to diversify economically, and do more to bring in visitors, he says. Better shops, better restaurants and hotels, better marketing - and instead of a huge car park in the town centre, why not have open-air restaurants and cafes with a continental feel, he says. "It should be a people place."

Mr Vaughan says he'll vote Liberal Democrat, believing they're the only party honest enough to admit that if you want better services, you have to pay for them with increased taxes.

He is not impressed with the level of debate among politicians of other parties, or with ordinary people who draw up wish lists of what they would like their politicians to do, but then don't want to pay for them.

"If you want something, you have to pay for it," he says.

1997 Election Results

John Greenway, Conservative 21,351 votes (43.8%)

Keith Orrell, Liberal Democrat 16,293 votes (33.4%)

Alison Hiles, Labour 8,762 votes (18.0%)

John Mackfall, Referendum 1,460 votes (3.0%)

Stephen Feaster, UK Independence 917 votes (1.9%)

Conservative majority: 5,058.

Turnout: 48,783 (74.8 per cent).

Total population (1991 census): 77,353

Candidates for June 7, 2001

David Ellis, Labour

Stephen Feaster, UK Independence

John Greenway, Conservative

Keith Orrell, Liberal Democrat

Updated: 10:51 Tuesday, May 29, 2001