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Reform UK formally votes in new council leader

Laura Coffey
BBC political reporter, Northamptonshire
Reporting fromCorby Cube
Laura Coffey/BBC Martin Griffiths standing outside the Corby Cube building wearing a blue suit, white shirt and blue tie.Laura Coffey/BBC
Martin Griffiths, the new council leader, says he does not take the responsibility lightly

Newly elected members at a Reform UK-led council have come together for the first time at the authority's annual meeting.

North Northamptonshire Council's chamber in Corby saw 65 of its 66 elected councillors attend and formally approve the new leader of the unitary local authority, as well as appoint other positions and make committee arrangements.

The Conservatives lost control of the council as Reform UK won 39 seats in the local elections earlier this month.

Martin Griffiths said it was a "privilege to be chosen as leader of the council".

Laura Coffey/BBC Group of Reform UK councillors for North Northamptonshire Council wearing suits standing outside the council offices at the Corby Cube.Laura Coffey/BBC
Reform UK councillors posed outside the Corby Cube ahead of the annual council meeting

The new political make-up of the 68-seat council is:

  • 39 Reform UK councillors
  • 13 Conservative
  • 8 Green
  • 4 Labour
  • 1 Liberal Democrat
  • 1 Independent

There are currently two vacancies in the Higham Ferrers ward, where the election was postponed due to death of a Liberal Democrat candidate.

The election for those seats will take place 12 June.

The Tories had been in control of the council since the first elections for the authority in 2021, but lost 37 seats.

It is now the largest opposition group and its deputy group leader David Howes said: "Hopefully we will all work together as much as we can."

The Greens gained five councillors after the 1 May poll and group leader Emily Fedorowycz said: "We will not support leadership or action that is dictated by Westminster.

"We don't want national figureheads or parties running this council. We want it to be run by local people and represented by us in this room."

Laura Coffey/BBC A bird's eye view of about 60 councillors sitting at five rows of tables in a horseshoe shape in a council chamber. The carpet is a deep red and the walls are wooden panelled. There is a separate row of tables at the back of the room with half a dozen people sitting there.Laura Coffey/BBC
Councillors met formally for the first time in the council chamber at the Corby Cube

Labour lost eight seats in the elections and group leader Mark Pengelly told the meeting: "We will work with everybody on the council, but we will be holding you to account where we have to, and hopefully we can see four years of improvements for all of North Northamptonshire."

A new group has been formed made up of the Independent and Liberal Democrat councillors called the Communities Alliance and it is led by long-serving independent councillor Jim Hakewill, who also stood for Parliament in Kettering in last year's general election, when Labour's Rosie Wrighting won the seat.

Griffiths told the meeting: "The first residents survey for the council will take place in the first few months and we will also consult on our priorities we propose in our new corporate plan."

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