'Main parties lost touch with voters', says Reform

A newly-elected councillor said voters turned to Reform UK at last week's local elections after "losing touch" with traditional political parties.

North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire councils - both unitary local authorities - have shifted in power from Conservative control to Nigel Farage's party.

Mark Arnull, a Reform UK councillor who was elected to West Northamptonshire Council, said he had spoken on the doorstep to about 1,700 people in the Kingsthorpe North ward during campaigning.

David Brackenbury, a Conservative councillor who retained his seat in North Northamptonshire, said "democracy is never wrong. Let's see how they [Reform UK] do now".

Arnull, who said he would be putting himself forward to lead West Northamptonshire Council, added: "What we saw on the doorstep was that our party seems to cut through politics, people seem to have lost touch with the two main parties.

"We campaigned heavily around the area, we walked the streets.

"Talking to local people, the same sorts of things came up... the state of the roads, white elephants, vanity projects and making sure the public gets value for money."

He said voters told him that Northampton's Market Square, which was refurbished at a cost of about £12m - mostly from the government's Towns Fund - was not value for money.

"Going forward, we want to make sure those spaces are used properly," he said.

In North Northamptonshire, Reform UK now has 39 councillors, with the Tories having lost 37 seats to be left with 13. The Greens increased their presence by five seats to a total of eight, while Labour now has four councillors.

While in West Northamptonshire, Reform UK were voted into 42 seats as the number of Tory councillors fell by 35 to 17.

Labour saw its number of seats cut in half, to be left with nine, and the Lib Dems now have six councillors after picking up two more seats.

The Conservatives had been in control of Northamptonshire's local authorities for 20 years.

The Tories had headed the former county council since 2005 and led both unitaries since their formation in 2021.

Brackenbury, who represents the Thrapston ward, said: "It's nice to have been re-elected, but I'm very sorry for all of my colleagues who worked so hard and who were such great councillors who weren't so lucky.

"Obviously, that's been replicated up and down the country with Reform's performance. I have to say congratulations to them."

"They [Reform UK] have to show what they can do and keep the services that have to be provided going.

"There's not much fat in local government. We have to provide the statutory services which involve adult social care, children's services, home-to-school transport.

"There's not a lot left over for all the other stuff that's nice to do. We will have to manage budgets tremendously carefully, and it will be interesting to see how Reform do it."

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