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BBC News
07-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
What now for Nottinghamshire County Council after Reform win?
What now for county council after shock Reform win? 15 minutes ago Share Save Hugh Casswell Political reporter, BBC Nottingham Share Save BBC Victorious Reform UK candidates speaking to the media on Friday Early on Friday morning, before a single result was actually confirmed, my phone started to buzz with sources from various parties telling me their predictions from before polling day - that Reform UK would gain a handful of Nottinghamshire seats - might have been wide of the mark. The only party which had been backing Reform to win enough to take control of the county council was Reform themselves. As the day went on, their confidence was proven to be well-placed, but even they were surprised by the scale of their victory - "I had to pinch myself", as one successful candidate told me. But with a new party now set to take control of the levers of a council that's responsible for everything from social care to road maintenance, there are a lot of questions about what exactly they'll do with those levers. Nottinghamshire County Council The scale of Reform's win can be seen in the county's changing political map For one thing, we don't yet know who the council leader will be. Other parties came into the election with group leaders who, had their party won enough seats, would have become leader of the council. Reform, on the other hand, had just the one incumbent - John Doddy. As a de facto spokesperson, he told me on Friday that Reform councillors would pick a leader from among their ranks "in the next 24 hours". That doesn't appear to have happened, and now we're told to expect a group meeting next Monday during which there should be a leadership vote. When asked, Doddy didn't deny his interest in the role, but added he didn't expect to be the only candidate. "I have every expectation that when I say 'who would like to lead the group?', I could get 30 hands going up," he said. "These are newly elected, ambitious people who want to make the most of their opportunity, so although I've got twelve years knowledge and I'm the most experienced individual there, I do not expect to have a free run." "I expect it'll be more like the Grand National." The other name I have most often heard linked to the leadership is Mick Barton - a former Mansfield Independent councillor who joined Reform last year. He's been a Mansfield district councillor for several years, and is the current leader of the Reform group on that authority, but won a seat in the Mansfield East division of the county council last week by a comfortable margin. How will the county council be different under Reform's leadership? Until there is a leader in place, it's somewhat harder to judge exactly what a Reform-led council will look like, but there have been clues from some of the party's senior figures. The Reform MP for Ashfield, Lee Anderson, has told the BBC the first thing they will do is "look at where the money's being spent and see what savings we can make". "They've got big budgets, millions of pounds on these net zero teams. We need to look at that closely, scrap some of these roles and use this money to spend on frontline services." He also suggested most council workers will not be allowed to work from home. "You're employed to work from an office. It's taxpayer's money, they pay your wages," he said. "They need to be in the office, they need to be mixing with staff, they need to be monitored, some of them." "Some of them can work alone, and there's always going to be a case for the odd one to work from home if they've got some problems at home, but the vast majority should be in the workplace doing the job they're paid to do." Whoever gets the leadership job, everything will have to be confirmed in time for the first full council meeting of the new administration, scheduled for 22 May. Two council seats are yet to be contested following the death of Mansfield North candidate Karen Seymour, with a by-election set to take place in June. Follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@ or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Reform takes control of Nottinghamshire County Council
Reform UK has gained control of Nottinghamshire County Council, taking over from the Conservatives. The party secured 40 of council's 66 seats, having needed 34 for an overall majority. The Conservatives now sit in second place with 17 seats, and Labour in third with four seats. A full picture will be confirmed in June when two remaining seats are set to be contested in a by-election, following the death of Mansfield North candidate Karen Seymour. Reform had only ever been represented by one councillor in Nottinghamshire before Friday, Dr John Doddy, who switched allegiances from the Conservatives in January. Live: Follow latest on local elections Who won the local election in my area? What's happened so far and what's still to come? Outgoing Nottinghamshire County Council leader Sam Smith retained his seat in the Newark East ward. However, Katie Foale, leader of the county's Labour group, lost her seat to Broxtowe Alliance candidate Teresa Cullen, who defected from the party in January. Dr Doddy told the BBC Reform was going to to things "differently". He said: "We're looking at how to use the taxpayers' money better and that's what people say to me - they don't understand where all the money is going and their services are going down and the money they're paying is going up and they can't put that together . "That's where the common sense come in." By Hugh Casswell, BBC Nottingham political reporter Coming into today, most parties and candidates I spoke to expected Reform UK to gain a decent number of seats in Nottinghamshire, perhaps enough to be the junior partners in some form of coalition with the Conservatives. But they've smashed all those expectations and ended up not just in control of the council, but with what looks like a comfortable majority. It's striking that they seem to have taken seats from Tory and Labour alike, as well as very nearly wiping the Ashfield Independents off the map in what is now not just a surprising but a convincing victory. There is still the small matter of who will be the council's leader. As Reform's only incumbent, de facto spokesperson John Doddy told me there will be a "democratic process" among the party's councillors within the next 24 hours. When I asked if he wants the job himself, he told me: "If the ball comes loose from the back of the scrum, you'd be tempted to pick it up and run for the line." Follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@ or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210. Nottinghamshire County Council
