Reform UK takes control of Nottinghamshire County Council winning 40 seats

Reform UK have taken control of Nottinghamshire County Council in a sweeping victory that has been replicated across the wider Midlands.

Reform won 40 of the 66 available seats, clear of the 34 required to take overall control of the authority, in the May 1 election.

The Conservative Party, which had been in control of the council with a slim majority, now has just 17 remaining.

Both Labour and the Ashfield Independents suffered significant losses, too.

Labour has been left with four seats, while the Ashfield Independents – who had been the main opposition – have been almost entirely wiped off the map with but one seat remaining.

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One of the Ashfield Independents’ main casualties was that of the group’s leader Jason Zadrozny, who was unseated by Reform’s Alan Bite by more than 600 votes.

In Broxtowe the sheer number of new groups – independent of the main parties – only seemed to contribute further to Reform’s gains.

The newly-formed Broxtowe Alliance, made up of 18 former Labour councillors, secured just one seat.

This was in Beeston Central and Rylands, and led to the unseating of the Labour Group’s leader Kate Foale.

Reform’s James Walker-Gurley, who beat the Broxtowe Alliance’s Milan Radulovic and Labour’s Will Mee to the Eastwood seat, said the group would be holding a meeting on Sunday to discuss the position of leader and cabinet members.

“We are not fully experienced county councillors but we have good leadership around us,” he said.

“I’ve got good contacts. I’ve got Lee Anderson’s number I can use. Cllr John Doddy has got fantastic experience, a good track record.

“I understand there are national issues that are at the forefront of people’s thinking at the moment, immigration being one of them.

“I understand that we don’t have any impact over that, but I think that is wrong. The awareness, the approach, and drawing attention to issues in a straight way, a blunt way, is having an impact.

“I don’t know, logistically, how we are going to tackle some of the issues people voted for. But at least in the long term we will be closer, when it is the General Election, to getting these issues sorted out.”

Cllr Sam Smith, the leader of the Nottinghamshire Conservatives and former leader of the authority, was one of few Tories to have kept their seat.

“I’m absolutely gutted to have lost so many outstanding councillors,” he added.

“They have sadly not been re-elected today. That is through no fault of their own, it is a national swing from Conservative and Labour to Reform.

“But if you look at what’s happened across the country, we are actually the biggest Conservative Group left in the country, based on the results today, and I’m the only Conservative leader to retain their seat in the Midlands as well. It is a sad day locally, but if you compare us we have actually done pretty well here.

“The incoming Reform administration have a good council to take forward. I still am unclear on their local priorities and their local issues they wish to focus on, as are the residents of Nottinghamshire.

“They received letters from Nigel Farage saying vote reform and get the boats stopped, and get your bins emptied, but the council can do neither of those. Reform won’t even be able to stop the boats coming down the Trent here in Nottinghamshire.”

Mr Zadrozny added: “I’m really disappointed,

“I’ve been on the County Council 18 years and I tried my best to do a good job.

“So personally, it’s a bit bruising. Sometimes the big political parties take a tsunami and that’s what’s been happening across the country.”

In 2017 the Conservatives won the most seats – but fell short of gaining a controlling majority. They partnered with councillors from the Mansfield Independent Forum to form an administration at the time.

Later in 2021, the Conservatives capitalised on a better run from the party  nationally, just about securing enough seats – 37 – for a majority.

This year, the tables have not only been turned, they have been almost entirely upturned.

Following years of turbulence for the Conservative Party, from a difficult-to-sell Brexit deal, the Covid pandemic, and Party Gate turmoil under former leader and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, their performance in the polls has collapsed.

The Labour Party has been struggling under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, battling troubling economic conditions and global conflicts following a sweeping victory in the 2024 General Election.

Not only this, but decisions over winter fuel payments and inheritance tax have only muddied the waters for Labour with its older and more rural voters.

The troubles between the two leading parties have given rise to Reform UK’s success under its leader Nigel Farage.

The re-branded Brexit Party’s success began to become apparent overnight in Lincolnshire, with the election of Andrea Jenkyns as mayor, as well as a win in a by-election in Labour’s Runcorn.

Things only got better for the party on May 2, when more results began to come in, having taken control of councils in Derbyshire and Lincolnshire county councils to name but a few.

The last time Nottinghamshire County Council had any hint of Mr Farage’s politics was in 2009, when Rev Tom Irvine was elected to the Hucknall division under the UKIP banner.