I thank Nigel Evans for his 32 years service his humility made him distinctive

Ribble Valley councillors across different parties have condemned abuse of people in politics and paid tribute to Nigel Evans, the area’s former long-serving Conservative MP who was defeated at the general election.

Conservative and Labour borough councillors acknowledged the big changes at Westminster stemming from last week’s general election, which included wins for two new Labour MPs for the new Ribble Valley and Pendle & Clitheroe constituencies. 

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A new Labour councillor was also welcomed following a by-election in Clitheroe’s St Mary’s ward.

Speaking at Ribble Valley Council’s full meeting this week, Conservative Cllr Stephen Atkinson, the council leader, also reflected on ‘fractured’ politics and abuse of politicians including Nigel Evans and Birmingham Labour MP Jess Phillips.

Cllr Atkinson said: “The integrity of the election process, the peaceful transfer of power, is one of the things we enjoy in the UK.

“I want to thank Nigel Evans, who was our MP for the past 32 years. He has spent his working life in the Ribble Valley. His humility made him distinctive and I’m sure it played a role in him being elected twice as deputy speaker at Westminster.

“However, politics seems to have drifted towards personal attacks on councillors and MPs such as Nigel Evans. If this type of behaviour is allowed to become normalised, it will do.

“One of the most shocking things I saw in the general election was the MP Jess Phillips talking about intimidation and new MPs at Westminster being given personal alarms. This is appalling.  Politics is becoming more and more fractured.”

He said elected politicians, including councillors, could not realistically deal with all the issues society faces. 

Thankfully, the Ribble Valley has other organisations too, such as community and civic groups and networks, which played important roles in local life too.

Later, Cllr Atkinson passed a photo to the Local Democracy Reporting Service of a damaged Conservative Party election hoarding, deliberately broken during the last year’s local elections.

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Picking-up on the themes, Labour Cllr Lee Jameson said: “In the last election, we did not run a personal campaign. I think it was a fair campaign. I agree that the Jess Phillips issue was appalling. We will always fight elections on politics and not personalities.

“Regarding Nigel Evans, anybody who has served the community for 32 years deserves a medal. Being a councillor can be taxing in a small borough like this and when he was MP, Nigel Evans was subject to a lot of focus.

“He deserves recognition for his years of service and I wish him well, personally.”

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