Staffordshire County Council Elections: Reform UK Beating Conservatives

Richard PriceBBC News, West Midlands

Phil Corrigan & Jonathan Sutton

Local Democracy Reporting Service

BBC Seven Reform UK politicians are seen smiling and celebrating. They are wearing light blue rosettes and are stood against a blue wall. — Reform UK candidates in Newcastle-under-Lyme were among those across the county celebrating

Reform UK is beating the Conservatives in Staffordshire’s local elections to decide who will run the county council.

So far, Reform has won 24 of the 30 seats that have been declared, with the Tories holding on to the remaining six.

There are 32 seats still to be counted across Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Stafford and the Staffordshire Moorlands.

Reform UK need just eight more seats to take overall control of the county council.

Ahead of this election the Conservatives held 53 seats, Labour held five and four were held by independent councillors.

Council leader Alan White was among the high profile losses for the Conservatives, losing his Lichfield Rural East seat to Reform UK.

Reform UK’s Newcastle-under-Lyme chair, Ken Owen, says voters have grown disillusioned with the main two parties

BBC News A man wearing glasses, a red shirt with a dark-coloured jacket. He is stood in a sports hall with a blue wall. There are chairs and a speaker in the background. — Reform UK’s Newcastle-under-Lyme chair, Ken Owen, says voters have grown disillusioned with the main two parties

Newcastle-under-Lyme Reform UK chairman Ken Owen said he thought voters were disillusioned with the other major parties.

“[It was] a remarkable night, not only for Reform UK candidates, but I think the people of Staffordshire have sent a message to the current sort of administration,” he said.

He said no decisions had yet been made about who might be appointed to key decisions within the council if his party was to win overall control.

“Reform UK have got a strong team of people behind the scenes, and I’m sure we’ll be talking about that over the next day or two.”

Reform gained eight of the nine seats in Newcastle-under-Lyme in Thursday’s elections.

Simon Tagg, Newcastle Borough Council leader, was the sole survivor among the Conservative county councillors from the borough who lost their seats.

“Longstanding councillors are losing their seats, not only across this county but across the area,” he said.

“I think it shows the dissatisfaction with the two parties – Labour and Conservatives.”

He added that his party had been unpopular in its final years in national government, and that people were looking for a change or a protest vote.

Meanwhile, in Tamworth voters have decided Reform should run the county council, with all five of the town’s divisions declaring for the party.

Reform overturned five Conservative seats, with Reform receiving more than 50% of the vote in four areas. The closest race was in the Perrycrofts division, where Reform had a majority of 500.

Coming into the election, all six county council divisions were held by the Conservatives following their strong performance in 2021.

Since the last local election, boundary changes have seen Tamworth lose one county councillor.

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