West Northamptonshire Council elections: big winners and losers
03/05/2025
Reform UK have taken control of the formerly Conservative council
by Nadia Lincoln, Local Democracy Reporter
In a tumultuous set of council elections, the very fabric of the Conservatives’ political hold on West Northamptonshire has been tested, ripping out large chunks of its voter base and political prowess. Reform UK have stormed through West Northamptonshire, beating contenders to take on a majority administration in the council.
Some big names and longstanding councillors lost their seats throughout the day, with Reform’s performance pushing out some incumbent councillors in brutal battles.
Reform ended the day with 42 councillors out of the 76 spaces on the unitary, with the Conservatives trailing behind as the biggest opposition party with just 17 – down on their previous 57 elected members before polls opened on Thursday.
Along with a host of losses across the county, notably former Tory West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) leader Adam Brown and his deputy Matt Golby were ousted from their seats.
Brown told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that he was ‘severely disappointed’ with the results, losing out on his place representing the Campion ward by just two votes.
“We’ve got to regroup as a party and have a proper deep dive and analysis into what went wrong nationally and locally,” he said.
“As Conservatives, we’ve been in power for a long time in West Northamptonshire – it’s natural that over that course of time there’ll be local frustrations mounting up as well as the national picture.
“I’m not going to pin this on the Jonathan Nunn scandal or anything else like it – it is just the fact that when you’re in local government you have a series of really tough choices to make. There isn’t an awful lot of money to go and spend on filling potholes or anything like that.
“You just have to manage the money as best as you can and hope that ultimately the electorate see some value for it. Maybe they haven’t this time around, but I fear that not a lot will change with a change of administration because they’ll still have the same series of tough choices to make.
“I do genuinely wish them well because I’m a resident of West Northamptonshire, my family live here. I hope that we built the foundations for any new administration to prosper and to do well on behalf of those residents.”
He hinted that it might not be the last we see of him in the political circuit, saying that he’ll take part in “every local effort to rebuild” the Conservative party and may even go forward for a by-election if and when one arises.
Other cabinet members who also lost their seats include HR and Corporate Services portfolio holder Mike Hallam and the man in charge of Highways, Phil Larratt, in their respective Parklands and Nene Valley wards.
Hallam told the LDRS: “We always knew it was going to be a challenging day for the party. I think we can learn some lessons from this.
“If it is a new administration from Reform I wish them the best. I really love West Northants and where I live in Parklands and I hope they deliver for the residents.”
Larratt added: “I’ve been privileged enough to represent the ward for the last three years and I’ve been privileged to represent the people of Northampton in various wards for 38 years.
“I’m disappointed for the Conservative party locally – I think this election has been fought more on national issues and I’m disappointed that the Conservative party leadership hasn’t been more forthcoming and strong in its policies.
“I’ve always tried to do what’s best for my constituents. It’s upsetting in some respects, but let’s see how things go and we’ll live to fight another day.”
It’s clear to see that the big winners this year have been Reform, taking what was previously zero representation on the council to a 42-seat majority, with a 33 per cent vote share overall.
No leader for the party or overall council has been chosen yet. The group will enter a process over the next few days to prepare to take over the running of WNC and hand over from the Conservatives.
Northampton South chairman, Anthony Owens, who gained his seat in Far Cotton, Delapre and Briar Hill, said he was feeling “elated” at his party’s performance.
“This is about the people of Northamptonshire getting the services they deserve for the council tax they’re paying. We want to get the auditors in – we’ve made that clear.
“We want to try and find money we can put back into public services because public services in Northamptonshire are suffering.
“I can tell you we’re all ready for it. Every one of the Reform councillors is absolutely determined to make this county one of the best counties in the country.”
His Northampton North counterpart, Mark Arnull (Kingsthorpe North) said: “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind of a day- this morning we woke up with no seats on the council and this evening we go to sleep with 42.
“I commend the work of the outgoing councillors who have served our communities very well, but the work starts now. We have a very credible group of people here and I’ve got every confidence we can run a council formidably.”
The Conservatives weren’t the only party to suffer heavy losses on election day. Labour’s grip and position as the largest opposition party has dwindled, shrinking from 20 elected members to just nine and dropping their overall vote share.
Wendy Randall, leader of the group in West Northants, was one of the many incumbent councillors to lose their seats as Reform seemed to eat into votes from both the left and the right. All Labour party candidates declined an opportunity to speak to the media at the count.
Another prominent figure in local politics, Lib Dem leader Sally Beardsworth, lost her seat to the wave of light blue. She has been an elected councillor for almost 40 years, leading her party through its own highs and lows in the county.
“You can only do your best, and unfortunately it wasn’t enough this time,” she told the LDRS, “I’ve always tried to listen to the people of Kingsthorpe to see what they want.
“I really hope that Reform have the common sense to realise that they have to look after the people first before their own political desires.”
Despite the loss of its leader, the Lib Dems did not take as many hits as Labour and Conservatives this election, increasing their number of seats from five in 2021 to six in 2025.
Deputy leader Jonathan Harris, who held onto his seat in Brixworth by a large margin, paid tribute to the work that Sally Beardsworth had done for the party.
He said: “I’m obviously delighted that I’ve retained my seat. I’ve got so many more things I want to try and do and one of my key ways of operating is working with the community and I hope that’s what’s been reflected in my results.
“Thanks to the people of Brixworth for putting their faith in me again, and also to my amazing team- I couldn’t have done it without them.”
He said he was ‘somewhat shocked’ with the results from the whole authority, saying that it would be a ‘challenging and interesting’ four years for the council with such a new group of elected members.
Another interesting aspect of this year’s vote has been the performance of independent candidates. Two have been elected to WNC under no political banner, leading in vote share on both occasions.
For a second year running, Julie Davenport has been elected as an independent councillor for Far Cotton, Delapre and Briar Hill. Following her suit, Ian McCord has been elected for the first time as an independent in his ward of Deanshanger and Paulerspury.
McCord told the LDRS earlier in the day that he suspected being an independent and not affiliated with the two main parties could have actually helped him this year.
“I feel very relieved and very pleased that I got [the ward] back. I’m quite happy that I’m ‘none of the above’.
“My whole strategy has been to say you have two votes- use one for your normal party and give me the second to keep them honest. This was an acknowledgement of the work that I’ve done in my ward and I’ll continue to work for you and not for them.”
Published: by the Banbury FM News Team
