Green Party defeat Reform UK in by-election contest for Derbyshire County Council seat - in straight shootout betwen the two parties
The Green Party have defeated Reform UK in what became a straight shootout between the two parties at a Derbyshire County Council by-election.
At Ripley Town Hall on January 21, the Green Party emerged victorious in the county council by-election for the Horsley division, which was spurred by the resignation of Reform member Richard Morgan, who stepped down due to health issues.
The Green Party were hoping to build on the success they have been cultivating for nearly a decade in Amber Valley on both the borough and county council.
It now has three members at County Hall and five on the borough council, with the county led by Reform and borough by Labour with significant majorities.
The party saw its share of the vote improve by nearly 18 per cent, rising from 27 per cent to 45 per cent of ballots cast. That is despite turnout falling from 39 per cent in May last year to 29 per cent this time round.
The result is Reform’s first by-election defeat in Derbyshire, having retained the Long Eaton North by-election in December by just 24 votes and sweeping to victory in last May’s local election contests.
Reform saw its vote share in Horsley remain broadly the same, rising marginally from 35 per cent to 35.5 per cent, with votes for the Conservatives and Labour dropping significantly.
The Green Party and Reform effectively traded the number of votes they received between May and now, with Reform winning by more than 300 votes last year and the Greens returning the favour this time around.
Notably, Labour, who control national Government and the borough council, saw its vote share drop to just 3.8 per cent.
This election saw the first outing for Advance UK, formed by previous Reform leadership and many ex-Reform candidates and councilors, through local candidate Alex Stevenson.
Cllr Stevenson, previously a Conservative and then Reform county councillor himself, now a town councillor, said achieving 10 per cent of the votes would see the race badged a success, but walked away with 1.9 per cent of the ballots – 57 votes.
Cllr Lian Pizzey, the successful Green Party candidate, who is also a borough councillor, said this result showed people had not just voted for his party again but had persuaded more to cast their ballots for him.
He said: “The votes for the old parties have fallen away and are now very, very low and this election was very much a two-horse race between Reform and the Green Party, which hopefully will be repeated nationally.”
Speaking before the result was revealed, Cllr Pizzey said that Horsley division residents were very keen to gain a local representative on the county council, saying its former representative, Reform’s Cllr Morgan, had been absent for most of his seven-month tenure due to ill health.
He said: “People are now confident in the Green Party, people who may not have previously voted for us. People are not impressed by the county council and Reform have not changed things like they said they would, and people don’t want the older parties of Labour and the Conservatives.
“I think we will see more of this across the country, people choosing between Reform and the Green Party.”
Reform’s Horsley candidate Juliette Stevens said she was unable to speak to the media today, before or after the vote, after repeated attempts, with party officials intervening to prevent this happening.
Cllr Amanda Paget, Conservative candidate and borough councillor, said: “It is the same as I predicted. People are upset at the Conservative party nationally.
“We had 14 years in Government and got things wrong towards the end.”
She said the impact of Party-gate during the pandemic and lack of people-centred policies under Rishi Sunak did not persuade votes.
Cllr Paget said the party had not sent a member of the shadow cabinet to the area to assist with the race, while Nigel Farage and Richard Tice visited for Reform and Zack Polanski visited for the Greens.
Asked if she felt Kemi Badenoch was the right leader for the Conservatives nationally, she said: “I wouldn’t know, I’ve not met her.”
John Cowings, Labour’s candidate, said the local party had endeavoured to persuade residents of the difference between county matters and national politics.
He said: “Some voters have voiced their displeasure at the Government and it comes down to whether local Labour members are able to turn that around.
“It is taking time for the Government to demonstrate that it is improving things, it takes time for decisions to be felt by people.
“We need to respond to people of all ages and backgrounds and tackle the division being pushed by the right.”
Cllr Stevenson had said Reform had been earning about two per cent of the vote in its early days so had been aiming for 10 per cent after only six months worth of efforts, but ended up with less than two per cent.
He said he had still been linked as the Reform candidate by some party members and had sought support from all other parties.
The Liberal Democrats candidate, Adrian Miller, was not present at the count.
Following this result, the makeup of the county council is as follows: Reform have 42 councillors, the Conservatives have 11 councillors, Labour have three councillors, the Liberal Democrats have three councillors, the Green Party have three councillors and there are two Independent councillors.
The overall vote was as follows, listed in the order candidates appeared on the ballot:
- John Cowings – Labour – 116
- Adrian Miller – Liberal Democrats – 43
- Amanda Paget – Conservative – 426
- Lian Pizzey – Green Party – 1,341
- Juliette Stevens – Reform UK – 1,091
- Alex Stevenson – Advance UK – 57
Meanwhile, in a borough council by-election for the Codnor, Langley Mill & Aldercar ward, Reform won by a sigificant margin, doubling the number of votes of the nearest competitors, Labour.
The contest had been held following the resignation of Labour councillor David Moon.
Here are the full results for the borough council by-election:
- Dave Chambers – Reform UK – 595
- Gemma Davey – Liberal Democrats – 42
- Jake Gilbert – Conservative – 130
- Mark Howard – Labour – 249
- Rob Marshall – Derbyshire Community Party – 50
- Bess Saunders – Green Party – 77
- Alex Stevenson – Advance UK – 161
The borough council makeup is now as follows: Labour have 20 councillors, the Conservatives have nine councillors, the Green Party has five councillors, the Amber Valley Independents, the Derbyshire Community Party and Reform UK have two councillors each, the Liberal Democrats have one councillor apiece, and there is one now-independent, former Labour member Cllr Trevor Holmes.