Conservatives have taken both Nottinghamshire County Council seats for Leake & Ruddington in Thursday’s local elections. The Tory candidate has also been voted in as Nottinghamshire’s new Police & Crime Commissioner*.
Reg Adair retained his long held Council seat for the Conservative Party in the 6th May poll, with his new running mate Matt Barney becoming a County Councillor for the first time following the retirement of former Conservative Councillor Andrew Brown. Before the election, 44 year-old Matt, who lives in Sutton Bonington, said: “I am truly honoured to have the opportunity to stand for my local community. I believe that local politics is about local people and I would be honoured to be elected as your local voice at the County Council.” Now his wish has been granted.
Mr Adair, who lives in Bradmore, has been one of our County Councillors since 2005, most recently as the Deputy Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council. He has been a champion of Rushcliffe County Park and pushed for more investment in our area.
This time around, the duo campaigned with the promise of delivering the needed infrastructure alongside new houses being built in the community. They also promised us more buses, more jobs for local people and investing more in our roads – a message which has obviously been popular with local voters.
However, first time Labour candidates and Ruddington residents Jen Walker and Mike Gaunt can take heart in coming a strong third and fourth in the poll – with a particularly strong showing among voters within our village. Both will remain as Rushcliffe Borough Councillors for Ruddington.
The turnout for Leake & Ruddington was 43.2% with the votes cast as follows:
- MATT BARNEY (CON) 3451
- REG ADAIR (CON) 3337
- Jen Walker (LAB) 2425
- Mike Gaunt (LAB) 2291
- Jason Billin (LD) 1013
- Richard Holmes (GRN) 819
- Shannon Briggs (LD) 424
In Nottinghamshire as a whole, the Conservatives regained control of the County Council with 37 seats. Labour now has 15 Councillors, Ashfield Independents have 10, Independents won 3 and the Liberal Democrats 1. No Council seats were won by The Green Party. Prior to the election, no party held an overall majority within the authority, although the Conservatives were able to rule with the support of independents.
You can find the full set of Nottinghamshire County Council election results from Thursday >>HERE<<.
*UPDATE SAT 8th MAY 2021:
This time around, Ruddingtonians were also choosing between three candidates for our new Nottinghamshire Police & Crime Commissioner.
After both voters’ first and second preferences were counted, the final results were as follows:
CAROLINE HENRY (CON) 138,658
Paddy Tipping (LAB) 131,302
David Watts (LD) 23,794 (after the 1st count)
The turnout was 34%.
Therefore Caroline Henry will take over from Paddy Tipping in the role from May 13th.
She says: “For too long, our Nottinghamshire towns have been forgotten when it comes to crime. By electing me as your Police & Crime Commissioner you won’t be forgotten any longer. I want to start backing our communities, not the criminals. It’s time to get tough on crime!”
Whether her election could herald the return of Police Stations for villages such as Ruddington only time will tell.
{Photos courtesy of Rushcliffe Conservatives}
