About Keith Tordoff MBE

Inspirational Yorkshire Businessman hopes to taste more success as Mayor of North Yorkshire.

Keith Tordoff MBE, who ran the world-famous sweet shop in Pateley Bridge for more than 20 years, is standing as Independent North Yorkshire candidate in the forthcoming election for Mayor of North Yorkshire.

Keith has personal experience of policing, having served as an officer in Leeds for 20 years.

After joining the police cadets in 1973, he was appointed a constable in 1975 and later worked in the task force, Vice Squad, Special Branch and CID.

Keith qualified as a sergeant and inspector, was firearms-trained and worked on several major investigations, including the serial killer, Peter Sutcliffe case.

He received commendations from the Chief Constable and Crown Courts, as well as a meritorious National Life Saving Award.

Keith was awarded an exemplary service certificate on leaving West Yorkshire Police.

He went on to work for the Bank of Scotland, which later became Halifax Bank of Scotland and then Lloyds Bank, where he carried out investigations in the North of England for 10 years.

Since then, alongside running the sweet shop, Keith has worked tirelessly to support the business community and served as chairman of Nidderdale Chamber of Trade from 1998 to 2002 and 2014 to present.

He led a campaign to help Pateley Bridge win the title of Best High Street in the Great British High Street Awards in 2016.

Keith has also chaired the Pateley Bridge in Bloom group which won the title of Best Village in the 2018 Yorkshire in Bloom competition and also this year’s Britain in Bloom contest.

He is a keen supporter of local charities, including Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Dementia Forward, of which he is a patron.

For his services to the community, Keith was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June 2018.

As he prepares for the Mayoral elections, Keith added: “I firmly believe that this important role should be an independent one which isn’t ruled by politics. In the last few months, we have seen far too often how personalities get in the way of improving public services.

“Anyone who votes for me can be rest assured that I will get things done for the benefit of our communities, rather than looking after my own interests. The fact that I sold the sweet shop to stand as a candidate shows just how seriously I mean business.”

Keith has been married to Gloria for 36 years and they have one son, Alexander, who worked in the family business and is a firefighter.

For more information and to request interviews, please contact Keith Tordoff on 07552 769000