Conservative MP Kris Hopkins wants the Keighley and Ilkley areas to break away from the Bradford district and form their own administration – but many fellow politicians in his constituency are not so sure.

Mr Hopkins, a former leader of Bradford Council, has asked parliament to set a timeline for a referendum to gain residents’ views on what could be the biggest change in local government in the district for nearly 40 years.

The Telegraph & Argus called councillors within the six Bradford Council wards that make up the Keighley constituency to see if they agreed with Mr Hopkins’ call for independence. Several back the idea, many said they needed to hear more details and others were damning in their criticism. As a general rule, Labour councillors were more sceptical about the plans.

Anne Hawkesworth (Con, Ilkley): “It has long been my view that Ilkley would be better served in an alternative Council to Bradford where Ilkley’s priorities could be the Council’s priorities. I fully support Kris with his call for a referendum. We must not forget Bradford Council, when formed 40 years ago, was cobbled together from political expediency and residents at that time had little say.”

Martin Smith (Con, Ilkley): “There’s a whole gamut of questions that need to be asked about bringing more local decision making as opposed to centralisation. We also need to talk about it more from a financial perspective. I’d treat the idea with guarded optimism.”

Mike Gibbons (Con, Ilkley): “It’s an interesting idea that needs investigating and exploring. My main aim would be to protect the quality of life and way of life of residents in my ward.”

Andrew Mallinson (Con, Craven): “I think ultimately what it comes down to is what the governance arrangements would be if a proposal like that came to fruition. It is an interesting proposal and what it boils down to is local residents wanting to know they’ve still got security of services being provided to a very high standard. There would have to be significant benefit to justify breaking away from Bradford.

Adrian Naylor (Con, Craven): “In terms of asking the people what they think, this will be the first opportunity they’ve actually had to look at the matter if a referendum goes ahead. I think this has great potential in terms of business and how we look at building on the success of things like the Airedale corridor.”

Michael Kelly (Con, Craven): “At the moment, very clearly there are implications for Bradford if Keighley and Ilkley and Craven ward were not part of Bradford. The relative success in schools and the lack of any issues of multiple deprivation, I think the presence of Ilkley, the Craven ward and Worth Valley, without wishing to denigrate Keighley at all, means if they were taken out of Bradford would make the figures look at lot worse and would probably attract more support and funding into Bradford.”

Robert Payne (Ind, Keighley West): “I think there is a school of thought that not enough money goes in to Keighley and it wouldn’t be a bad thing to be independent. Keighley has been independent before and it was viable then and it could be again, although how that would work I wouldn’t know.”

Khadim Hussain (Lab, Keighley Central): “Obviously I will be with the people of Keighley if they feel this is what they want. As far as Mr Hopkins is concerned, his suggestion is ludicrous. Why was this issue not brought up when he had leadership of the Council? I believe he is not doing this for the right reasons and is trying to distract from the massive cuts this Government has been making. I do not believe the economic environment or the demographic structure of Bradford will make independence a viable option.”

Abid Hussain (Lab, Keighley Central): “I agree that he should have done it when he was leader of Bradford Council. He is just trying to distract from the cuts the Government is making.”

Steve Pullen (Lab, Keighley East): “I couldn’t see it being of the slightest benefit to Keighley to go independent. It doesn’t make financial sense. We will have to duplicate all the services currently provided by Bradford, which would be expensive.”

Dr Keith Dredge (Lab, Keighley West): “I would like to ask Kris Hopkins who is going to pay for it. In the 1920s, major firms like Hattersley’s contributed a massive amount to Keighley’s rates. That industry doesn’t exist anymore thanks to Mrs Thatcher and I don’t think we have got the money to go independent now.What is Keighley in the terms of this debate? Does it include Haworth and Oxenhope or is it just the town? Where do we draw the line?”

Russell Brown (Con, Worth Valley): “I don’t have any worries about the referendum. As long as there is a proper, informed debate I can cope with whatever the outcome is. My personal feeling is, if Keighley were independent during these difficult times, it might be marginalised more than being part of Bradford.”

Dorothy Clamp (Con, Keighley East): “I think it will be good if we looked after our own finances and resources. We can’t be sure that Keighley gets back its fair share in comparison to the Council tax that has been paid. I think there has always been a feeling that we should be on our own not part of Bradford.”