Reform UK win most seats on Warwickshire County Council but not outright control
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WARWICKSHIRE County Council election results are starting to be declared, with Reform UK taking early victories in the north of the county.
At 12.30pm today (Friday), Reform UK had won Coleshill North & Water Orton, Atherstone and Stockingford.
Labour had secured one seat - the Benn ward.
Just 10 minutes later (12.40pm) and Reform UK added another five seats: Kingsbury, Baddesley & Dordon, Polesworth, Stockingford and Nuneaton Abbey.
All the action is in the north of Warwickshire at the moment.
12.45pm: Bedworth Central is declared for… yes, once again, Reform UK.
And that result is quickly followed by another win for Reform UK in Bedworth East.
12.50pm: It’s currently 10 for Reform UK and one for Labour with the other parties yet to hit their stride.
Camp Hill (again in the north) brings up Reform’s 11th seat. Another 18 and Reform would have a majority at Shire Hall.
However, the voting patterns have always been very different in the north of Warwickshire to the south… will that change today?
12.55pm: Labour get their second victory of the day at Brownsover & Coton Park.
That makes it 11-2 in Reform’s favour.
1pm: The Reform train steams onwards with two more wards: Hartshill & Mancetter and Coleshill South & Arley.
1.05pm A few to add - and all for Reform: Arbury, Bedworth West and Attleborough.
Conservatives are on the board: Hillmorton is the first seat for the Conservative Party. Although Reform was second, there were 400 votes between the two candidates.
1.10pm: Another Bedworth seat goes to Reform; this time it’s Bedworth North. Earl Craven ward also goes to Reform, making it 17 seats for the party with just three for the others… so far.
1.15pm: The Lib Dems will be at Shire Hall - the experienced Jerry Roodhouse wins Eastlands.
1.20pm: There’s going to a lot of new faces - Reform win New Bilton & Overslade.
Current state of play
Currently all seven seats have been declared in North Warwickshire. All for Reform.
Nine of the 13 seats have been declared in Nuneaton & Bedworth. Reform have won all nine.
The Rugby district is a bit more competitive - Two each for Reform and Labour and one each for the Lib Dems and Conservatives.
Lib Dems add two
The first result in the Stratford district is a win for the Lib Dems in Alcester. They have also won Bilton & Hillside.
The Alcester vote looked like this:
James Michael Norris Liberal Democrats (1196 votes)
Ashley Stuart Jones Reform UK (898 votes)
Sarah Gail Hession Conservative Party (820 votes)
Andrew Mark Foster Labour Party (381 votes)
Tom Genders Green Party (119 votes)
1.40pm: 19 for Reform: Galley Common
1.45pm:The Conservatives strike back… sort of. They’ve added another two seats - Fosse and Dunsmore & Leam Valley - which brings them to three.
Meanwhile Bulkington & Whitestone goes to Reform while the Lib Dems continue their good run of support in the Stratford area with Stratford West under their belts.
Half time
Reform have 20 seats (another nine needed for a majority) while Lib Dems have four, the Conservatives three and Labour two. Nothing for the Greens so far.
1.50pm: The Conservatives get another two seats: Kineton & Red Horse and Shipston (Greens had high hopes in Shipston but were short by 400 votes and finished second).
Meanwhile, Whitnash goes to the Whitnash Residents’ Association - one more them and they’re level with Labour.
1.55pm: Twenty-one seats for Reform… Nuneaton East. And the Greens make their mark with victory in Weddington - a resounding win with 1,715 votes against Reform’s 1,070 votes.
2pm: I’m really hungry. No lunch yet.
Back to the results: The Conservatives cannot get an outright majority. There’s 23 seats left to declare which when added to the five already won by the Conservatives will give them 28. They would need 29.
So what we are left with is either a Reform majority or a shared power structure of some sort.
First Reform victory in Stratford district
James Crocker, who stood in the general election and has become a spokesperson for Reform UK in the Stratford area, is the man who makes history.
He collected 1,273 votes with the Conservatives in second on 988.
2.15pm: Kate Rolfe is back at Shire Hall for the Lib Dems after winning Stratford South. It wasn’t even close.
2.20pm A wave of results have just come in:
We’ll start with the Lib Dems who have won Stour & the Vale, Cubbington & Leek Wootton and Leamington North.
That first result means the former leader of the county council Izzi Seccombe has lost her seat to the Lib Dems David Curtis.
The Lib Dems are now up to eight.
2.25pm: Elsewhere the Greens get another seat (Lapworth & West Kenilworth) and Labour bring their total to three with victory in Warwick West.
Admirals & Cawston provide the Conservatives with their sixth seat while the Greens get their third seat in Leamington Brunswick,
2.30pm: State of play
After a explosive start, things have slowed for Reform but they still lead by a long way with 14 seats still to be declared.
The line-up looks like this:
Conservatives 6
Green 3
Labour 3
Lib Dems 8
Reform 22
Whitnash Residents’ Association 1
2.35pm: Watch the Greens go - the victory in Warwick North is their fourth of the day and moves them ahead of Labour.
2.40pm: Were you watching the Greens? I hope so - they’ve just added another two seats - Kenilworth Park Hill and Leamington Willes.
Kenilworth St John's and Leamington Milverton were both taken by the Lib Dems.
2.50pm: Seven for the Conservatives - Budbrooke & Bishop's Tachbrook is the latest.
2.55pm: We’re waiting on eight seats. Reform would need to win seven of those to get a majority (29 seats) but that seems unlikely.
And just for comparison, the Conservatives had 41 councillors before the election.
3pm: It’s been a while, but Reform strike again - seat number 23 is Studley.
Reform outright control will not happen
This is because the Greens just added seat number seven at Warwick South. The most Reform can now get is 28 seats - they needed 29.
Wellesbourne is Lib Dem.
Five to go
I’d expect these to be a mixture of Lib Dems, Greens and Conservatives… but we’ll see.
3.15pm Stratford North goes from Conservative to Lib Dem - Tim Sinclair, who has lost his seat, did work hard for the town (although we still don’t see the point of the bike path on the Warwick Road).
Lorraine Grocott takes over that ward after beating Tim by about 90 votes.
3.25pm Feldon is retained by the Conservatives in a very close contest.
Chris Kettle was elected with 1,133 votes with the Lib Dems’ Louis William McMaster Adam second on 1,126 votes.
3.50pm
There’s another Conservative - Southam, Stockton & Napton remains with Andy Crump.
Two to go.
4.10pm: And then there was one. Lib Dems take Leamington Clarendon.
How the map is looking
And finally
Bidford & Welford are declared with the Lib Dems winning. That’s 14 for them.
The new council
Reform have the most number of seats with 23. It’s then:
Liberal Democrat 14
Conservatives 9
Green 7
Labour 3Whitnash Residents Association1
What’s next?
That is the question we’re asking.
There could be coalition deal to form a majority involving Reform - or there would be an alliance of the other parties…
All that effort and the picture is rather cloudy.
What is clear is that the Conservatives have been left bruised by this election. Reform has taken a lot of votes away from Tory candidates and, where Reform has not won the seat, it has allowed other parties to win the poll.
A lot of experience has been lost from the county council, so expect some new thinking and new policies.
