Plenty of county council election wins for Reform in south east Northumberland

Reform were the big winners on the night, winning 23 seats on the county council. Most were in the south east area.

The Conservatives remain the largest party on the local authority and it continued to do well in the Cramlington area, but the number of its councillors overall has reduced to 26.

Labour lost many of its councillors and it now has just eight, retaining a few in the south east. There were also a few Independent candidate victories in south east Northumberland.

Reform candidates won in Bebside & Kitty Brewster (Denise Nicholson), Bedlington East (Trevor Austin), Bothal (Scott Amery), Choppington & Hepscott (David Fitzgerald), College with North Seaton (Steven Roberts), Cowpen (Rick Baker), Cramlington South West (Shaun Knowles), Croft (Mark Peart), Hartley (Stephen Flower), Haydon (Sonia Simm), Hirst (John Allen), Isabella (David Johnson), Newbiggin-by-the-Sea (Ben Audsley), Newsham (Barry Elliott), Plessey (David Swinhoe), Seaton with Spital (Karl Green), Sleekburn (Roger Spriddell), Stakeford (Martin Jackson) and Wensleydale (Natalie Rolls).

Coun Mark Peart, Reform’s first councillor elected to the Croft ward, said to the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’m over the moon. The people want Reform – it is time for change.”

A Reform UK spokesman said: “This is an astonishing result. From a standing start, Reform have become the second largest party on Northumberland County Council.

“In an area dominated by Labour in Parliament with a strong Conservative presence locally, the message from voters is clear: they are tired of the failing traditional two parties.”

The Conservatives won five of the seven Cramlington seats. Their successful candidates were Alan Smith (Cramlington Eastfield), Wayne Daley (Cramlington North), Mark Morris (Cramlington North West), Paul Ezhilchelvan (Cramlington South East) and Mark Swinburn (Cramlington Village).

Coun Swinburn said: “I am delighted that residents have again elected to keep the same local councillor team, at both county and town council level, that have continued to deliver such exceptional services for the people of Cramlington.

“They know we keep them informed and involve them in the decision making to make our town such an amazing place to live, and we value their constructive input.

“We look forward to continuing to deliver on what residents told us they wanted as part of our Cramlington Conversation and look forward to continuing the improvements of the services that we deliver.

“The boundary changes mean we now have additional town and county councillors to represent our residents and we look forward to them providing a continued level of service.”

There was further success for the Tories in Seghill with Seaton Delaval (Eve Chicken) and South Blyth (Daniel Carr).

The wins for Independents were in Bedlington Central (Christine Taylor), Bedlington West (Malcolm Robinson) and Cramlington East & Double Row (Scott Lee).

Labour did manage to win in Ashington Central (Caroline Ball), Holywell (Les Bowman), Lynemouth (Liz Dunn) and Pegswood (Vicky Oakley).

Speaking for Labour, Druridge Bay councillor Scott Dickinson said to the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It’s been a very disappointing night. Lots of good, long-standing people have lost their seats.

“It is very disappointing they have lost seats to a protest vote.”