2025 local elections: Focus on Wellingborough

The second elections for North Northamptonshire Council, a unitary authority which only came into existence four years ago, are not far away.

The market town of Wellingborough was hotly contested last year in a Parliamentary by-election that saw the second-biggest swing from Conservatives to Labour since World War Two.

On 1 May voters will be electing 68 councillors across 31 wards.

The town centre falls into the Croyland and Swanspool ward, which had one of the lowest turnout rates in the 2021 election at 27.5%.

The authority has been led since its inception by Conservative councillor Jason Smithers, who is not standing again in May's election.

It is currently made up of 50 Conservatives, 16 Labour councillors, four from Reform UK, three Greens and three Independents. There are two vacant seats.

So, what issues matter here?

Grace Clark, 20, lives in Wellingborough and has a three-year-old daughter and an 11-month-old-son.

She has been homeless for the last three years and has been living in temporary accommodation in a hostel, with her son, for the last seven months.

"There should be more understanding and support for homeless people," she says,

Ms Clark believes there should be a "homeless group so it's easy to speak to people, rather than constantly calling the homeless team and not getting answers".

She says she has never voted in elections and, while she would like to, believes "it won't make a difference".

Cheryl Taylor, 66, also lives in Wellingborough. She moved from the West Indies when she was 13, living in Luton for a short time before moving to the town.

For her, the big issue is housing and homelessness. For the younger generation, she says, there are not enough homes.

"I've got a son who is 40 and he is going to be homeless," she says.

"They go to the council and the council say 'it's first come, first served' and that, to me, is a bit unfair.

"You live here, you're born here, you work here, you're schooled here, and at the end of the day, they should have something for them."

She says she knew the elections were taking place, but that she doesn't always vote, because: "I think you're voting for people and then you still don't get the help; they don't do what they say they will."

Kevin Arnold, 49, lives in nearby Rushden and says the big issue for him is potholes.

"It's just awful, as everyone knows in Northamptonshire. The potholes are just horrendous," he says.

He hit one on his way to Stansted Airport in the early hours of the morning last month, getting a puncture and only just catching his flight, thanks to friends.

Mr Arnold would like to see a commitment to "proper infrastructure" for roads "to be resurfaced properly and not a quick fix, where they're just cheaply done just to fill the hole; last two or three months and then the hole is back again".

He says he will be voting in May, but he has not yet decided who for.

Retired couple Ann and Robert Livingstone moved from Northampton to Wellingborough in 1997.

The issue for Mrs Livingstone, 71, is the empty shops and the state of the high street.

"All the shops are shut and what shops are open are cheap charity shops. The place is dirty; it's run-down... when we first moved here, it was such a lovely little town."

Mr Livingstone, 78, has similar concerns.

"The banks are closing," he says. "I'm fortunate and can manage online banking but there's a lot of people my age who aren't able to deal with that.

"I'd like to see investment in a proper market like we used to have; a clean-up of the streets. We pay rates, but the council aren't on top of keeping the place tidy.

"Where's our money going? It's certainly not in Wellingborough."

Chris Cahill says he would like to see more done to improve Wellingborough town centre.

"I've worked in the town centre for 18 years and I've seen it go down and down," he says.

"Less shops want to be here. Everyone is moving to places like Rushden Lakes and it is making it harder for this town to thrive because there is not really much about."

Mr Cahill, 35, who has lived in the town for 34 years, says the town has lost banks and shops, especially clothes shops.

He says he would like to see incentives to make it "appealing" for businesses to come to Wellingborough.

"The town has been a dying town for about 20 years... we're classed as a market town, but we don't have one anymore," he says.

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