Outgoing North East Derbyshire Tory leader aims to take ‘fight’ to new Labour-controlled council

Conservative councillors at NE Derbyshire District Council previously held 26 seats and now have 19 councillors following the election, whereas Labour previously had 18 councillors but secured 28 councillors to take control of the authority.

However, outgoing Conservative NE Derbyshire District Council Leader Alex Dale was still safely re-elected among the 19 Tory district councillors at the authority and he will continue serving Unstone, Apperknowle, Summerley, Hundall and the Handleys.

He said: “It’s an enormous privilege to be re-elected to serve Unstone, Apperknowle, Summerley, Hundall and the Handleys as the district councillor for another term and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported me.

“It was great to get to speak to so many residents over the course of the past few months and I will always do my very best to represent and work hard for everyone, regardless of how ever they voted, over the next four years.”

Across Derbyshire, Labour enjoyed a string of successes and now have control at NE Derbyshire District Council, Chesterfield Borough Council, Bolsover District Council, High Peak Borough Council, Amber Valley Borough Council, Erewash Borough Council, and South Derbyshire District Council, while the Liberal Democrats hold Derbyshire Dales District Council.

NE Derbyshire District Cllr Dale added: “It was obviously a very difficult night for the Conservatives and I was saddened to see hardworking and valued colleagues not returned to their seats, especially in some cases by just a few handfuls of votes, showing just how close the election was.

“But that is democracy and the people have spoken. Nevertheless, it’s heartening that we have held on to some seats in key ‘battleground’ areas in District, as well as holding Dronfield Town and Eckington and Killamarsh Parish Councils, so we will have a firm base upon which to rebuild and take the fight back to Labour over the coming years.”

Following the Local Elections, Labour now has more councils and councillors than the Conservatives and Labour is continuing to lead the Conservative Government in national polls.

Many believe national concerns about the economy, inflation, the cost of living crisis, healthcare and high-energy costs may have driven voters to send out a message during the Local Elections to the Conservative Government.

Cllr Dale added: “As the outgoing Leader of the Council, I remain extremely proud of everything the Conservative team was able to achieve over the past four years supported by an excellent officer team: delivering transformational improvements to our leisure centres; securing tens of millions of pounds of regeneration and infrastructure investment from Government; and reducing fly-tipping reports by 20 per cent with a zero tolerance policy and tough recriminations, to name just a few.

“I wish the new Labour administration well as they navigate the next few years. For my part, I will always seek to offer sensible, constructive opposition to hold them to account, in the best interests of North East Derbyshire residents.

“And as a Conservative team in opposition, we will continue to work extremely hard for the whole district and demonstrate a clear alternative vision for how we can improve even further on the progress we made since 2019.”

Cllr Dale is also a Derbyshire County Councillor for Dronfield East Division and a cabinet member for education at this authority.

Elsewhere in NE Derbyshire, the Liberal Democrats still have three councillors, but the Independents have gone from six councillors to two and the Green Party now has one seat in the Wingerworth ward.

Derbyshire County Council was not involved in this May’s Local Election but the authority will be subject to an election in May, 2025.