Countess related to Thatcher's 'Willie' wins council seat for LIB DEMS

Blue-blooded countess related to Thatcher’s ‘Willie’ and who lives on 20,000-acre estate (which hosted top Tory meetings in the 1960s) wins North Yorkshire council seat for the LIB DEMS on Rishi Sunak’s doorstep

  • Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, Countess of Swinton, wins seat on N Yorkshire Council
  • She lives on 20,000 estate with long association to upper tiers of Tory party 

A blue-blooded countess who lives on a 20,000-acre estate that previously hosted top Tory meetings has stunned Rishi Sunak by winning a council seat for the Liberal Democrats.

Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, the Countess of Swinton, last night won a seat on North Yorkshire Council to reduce the Conservatives’ majority.

The Masham and Fountains division she now represents sits on the Prime Minister’s doorstep – less than 20 miles from Mr Sunak’s Richmond constituency.

Her victory is all the more surprising as she is part of a family with long ties to the upper tiers of the Conservative Party.

Mark Cunliffe-Lister, her husband, is the grandson of Margaret Thatcher’s de facto deputy PM William ‘Willie’ Whitelaw.

Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, the Countess of Swinton, last night won a seat on North Yorkshire Council to reduce the Conservatives’ majority

The Swinton Estate has a long association with top Tories. It was used by former Conservative leader Ted Heath to host shadow cabinet away days in the 1960s

Mark Cunliffe-Lister, Felicity’s husband, is the grandson of Margaret Thatcher’s de facto deputy PM William ‘Willie’ Whitelaw

His loyalty to Thatcher became renowned, with the former premier famously said to have declared that ‘every prime minister needs a Willie’.

The Swinton Estate, run by Felicity and Mark, also has a long association with top Tories.

From 1948 to 1976 it was used as a training college for aspiring Conservative MPs and oil portraits of prominent Tories still line the halls of what is now a rural retreat and spa.

The estate was also used by former Conservative leader Ted Heath to host shadow cabinet away days in the 1960s.

The Countess of Swinton will now become a Lib Dem member of the new North Yorkshire Council unitary authority, which will bring together the county council and seven district and borough councils from April.

She beat Tory candidate Brooke Hull in yesterday’s Masham and Fountains by-election, triggered by the death of the previous Conservative councillor, by securing 63 per cent of the vote.

The electoral division covers 400 sq miles of countryside between Ripon and the Yorkshire Dales national park. 

‘The Conservatives go back generations in my husband’s family, but I’ve always had my family’s support in doing what I think is right for us and our local area today,’ she said.

‘I think a bit of local democracy is a very good thing. No one party has a right to be in charge. It’s up to the voters and this time, they’ve gone for someone different.’

The mother-of-three, a commercial property lawyer, took over the running over the 20,000 acre Swinton Estate with Mark in 2000

Swinton Estate – which boasts ivy-clad turret and castellations – has been in the Cunliffe-Lister family since the 1880s, eventually coming to Mark, the current Earl of Swinton, and Felicity.

The mother-of-three, a commercial property lawyer, took over the running over the 20,000 acre Swinton Estate with Mark in 2000.

They have transformed it from a neglected heritage site into a thriving hotel and spa and created 150 local jobs.

She added: ‘Throughout the campaign we heard from people who had always voted Conservative because they felt like that was the only choice here, and I think many rural areas across the country are in the same position.

‘But many lifelong Conservatives just can’t bring themselves to vote for the party at the moment – even in their safest areas like here in Masham & Fountains on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.

‘We gave them an alternative. I promised to be active in my local community, to listen to local people and not take their votes for granted.

‘At a local level people just want to see an active community champion who’ll fight their corner and get things done.’

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