Both West and North Northamptonshire councils won by Reform
Big losses for the Conservatives in the county as they lose out to Nigel Farage's party in West and North Northants.
A majority has been announced in West Northamptonshire with North Northamptonshire for the Reform Party, meaning they have overturned 20 years of Conservative council rule in the county.
The unitary council of West and North Northamptonshire were created in 2021 following the abolition of Northamptonshire County Council. This only the second time local elections have been held by the two authorities.
There were more candidates than ever standing but for fewer councillor positions because the electoral map of Northamptonshire has been re-drawn.
Before yesterday's vote both the Northamptonshire councils had a Conservative majority.
Nationally Nigel Farage's Reform UK secured victory by six votes over Labour in Runcorn and Helsby as Sir Keir Starmer failed his first by-election test as Prime Minister.
The narrow victory for new MP Sarah Pochin saw Reform taking a constituency which Labour won with a majority of almost 14,700 less than 12 months ago.
Labour says while it "suffered an extremely narrow defeat, the shock is that the Conservative vote has collapsed".
Meanwhile, another first for Reform as Andrea Jenkyns has been elected the Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire.
While the party won over a handful of MP constituencies last year, it still gathered a wave of public support.
WEST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE COUNCIL
West Northamptonshire covers the old council Daventry, Northampton and South Northamptonshire councils.
The Conservatives won it in 2021 with an overall majority 39 but that has since been reduced to 24.
In the 2021 election, the Conservatives won 40% of the votes with Labour only nearly 25%. The Liberal Democrats secured 18% and the Greens on 9%.
Boundary changes in West Northants mean there are now 76 council seats in the area, whereas it used to have 93. That's 17 fewer than before and means now 39 seats are required for an overall majority.
The returning officer Anna Earnshaw tells us there were at least three parties standing in each seat.
Election results and turnout
The last election announcements to come on Friday night, showed that Reform candidates had won an over all majority.
Reform gained 42 seats overall, having had none previously. The Conservatives on 17, losing 35.
Labour are on 9, having lost 9. The Liberal Democrats are on 6 having gained 2, with Independent candidates gaining 2.
Turnout was 32.16% with 27.35% for parish elections.
NORTH NORTHAMPTONSHIRE COUNCIL
North Northamptonshire covers the areas for the former council districts of Corby, East Northamptonshire, Kettering and Wellingborough.
The first election was won by the Conservatives in 2021 with an overall majority 42. That majority has been reduced to 24 since then.
The party secured 42.3% of the votes at the last election in 2021 with Labour on 27.4%. The Green Party won more votes than the Liberal Democrats with a 12.6% shared compared to 11.1%.
There have been boundary changes in North Northamptonshire meaning there are now 68 council seats, 10 fewer than before.
It means 35 seats were required for an overall majority.
In February local council leader for North Northants Jason Smithers, who had been in place since April 2021, announced he would not be seeking re-election at the local elections.
The final result in North Northamptonshire will not be known until June because the election in Higham Ferrers ward has been postponed following the sad death of candidate William John James Ratcliffe also known as John Ratcliffe.
Adele Wylie, Returning Officer for North Northamptonshire Council said:
"We send our sincere condolences to John’s family and our thoughts are with them at this sad time.
By law, we must now postpone the election for Higham Ferrers ward on North Northamptonshire Council. The other candidates and electors have been made aware."
A new election must take place by 23 June 2025 with the date yet to be announced.
Election results and turnout
The pattern of Conservative losses was also mirrored in North Northants who declared first on Friday evening.
Reform came ahead of the polls with 39, while the Conservatives came second with 19.
The Green Party came third with 8 seats and Labour followed with 4 seats
There is one seat each for an Independent and a Lib Dem candidate.
Turnout was 31.6%.
You can see a breakdown of each councillor elected for each ward on the relevant council websites, with an overall picture on the West and North Northants Council website.