Keith Tordoff’s wife keeps asking him why he’s involved in politics - when he could be enjoying other things less stressful and less challenging. In this interview he provides the answer. He wants to break the party-political stranglehold of his community.
You soon get the message that Keith is a proud Yorkshireman. He’s been working in the community for decades and he wants to apply his knowledge of how to get things done…in his constituency. However, the problem is that the Conservative, Labour and Reform candidates want to treat Skipton & Ripon like any other target seat. As a safe Conservative seat it’s no longer ‘safe’ given the unholy mess the Conservatives have made of things. That makes it a target win for ex-SPAD MP-wannabes, regardless of political hue.
But Keith’s not going to make it easy for them. Yes the ballot paper will be cluttered. But, then, so was Rochdale’s in its recent by-election. That seat was won by (effectively) an independent (admittedly one who, annoyingly, has his own political party) - George Galloway. The runner-up, however, was an independent. The mainstream parties (and Reform) were decimated.
Keith is one such Independent who has been working the constituency for years and is no stranger to political campaigns. He’s very hopeful that he’ll be one of many breakthrough independent candidates who may well make July 4, 2024 Independents’ Day.
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GE2024: Keith Tordoff MBE