Veteran Tory ‘disappointed’ as he is ousted from Broxtowe Council seat in tie-break

The Labour group gained 26 seats out of a possible 44 in the May 4 election, giving it control of the authority.

The Conservative Party gained 10 seats while five Liberal Democrats and three Independents were also elected.

Conservative Coun Richard Jackson – also Nottinghamshire Council member for Toton, Chilwell and Attenborough and cabinet member for finance – previously represented Attenborough and Chilwell East.

However, this year he stood for Toton and Chilwell Meadows, but eventually lost his seat after gaining the same number of votes – 834 – as fellow Conservative Coun Halimah Khaled.

Ruth Hyde, Broxtowe Council chief executive, drew Coun Khaled’s name out of a hat in a tense moment at the election count.

Coun Jackson said: “I am disappointed personally, but it’s also about colleagues locally and across the country.

“There are some very hard-working councillors across the country who deserved another term in office who would’ve continued to do a great job. They’ve been swept aside by a national tide.

“I’ve been on Broxtowe Council for 20 years and enjoyed every minute of it, it has been a privilege to present people. I shall miss it, but we will regroup and look forward to the next set of elections.

“There’s always an election not too far away. The thing for me is to let the dust settle and work out how we move forward from here.

“The scale is probably more than we expected today, but it was clearly always going to be difficult for us.”

Coun Milan Radulovic, council leader, who was first elected in 1986 and was re-elected as Labour member for Eastwood Hilltop, said he was “elated” at the result.

He said: “It’s been four years of working in the most extreme circumstances with the Covid pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, fuel poverty and the horrendous rise in homelessness.

“We’ve positively tackled these issues to bring them to the forefront of people’s attention to try and alleviate the situation.

“I am immensely proud of all we have achieved.”

Labour gained three seats in Kimberley, which was previously run by two Conservatives and one Independent councillor.

Labour candidates Chris Carr, Andy Cooper and William Mee won seats, meaning Shane Easom, previous councillor for Kimberley was ousted.

But Darren Henry, Conservative MP for Broxtowe, said he was not concerned ahead of the next General Election.

He said it was “disappointing to see hard-working Conservative candidates not being elected”, but added: “Hopefully those councillors won’t give up and will come back to fight for it another day.

“At the end of the day, the Prime Minister and the Conservative Party are working really hard to make sure we tackle the cost of living crisis, deal with the small boats and add some investment into long forgotten towns.

“It’s been disappointing in terms of results for the Conservative party across the country.”

Selected ward results

Awsworth, Cossall & Trowell

ELECTED – Don Pringle, Conservative: 818 votes;

ELECTED – Lydia Ball, Conservative: 805;

Tyler Marsh, Labour: 561;

Karen Oliver, Liberal Democrats: 266;

Annie Hughes-Riley, Liberal Democrats: 207.

Brinsley ward

ELECTED – Elizabeth Williamson, Independent: 366;

Brian Enever, Independent: 273;

Gaynor Doherty, Labour: 86.

Eastwood Hall ward

ELECTED – Bob Bullock, Labour: 300;

Guy Hagan, Independent: 173;

Joshua Parker, Conservative: 158.

Eastwood Hilltop – Labour hold

ELECTED – Milan Radulovic, Labour: 645;

ELECTED – Susan Bagshaw, Labour: 586;

Lisa Hartshorn, Conservative: 227;

Alex Marker, Conservative: 204;

Levi Ensor, Independent: 179.

Eastwood St Mary’s ward

ELECTED – David Bagshaw, Labour: 491;

ELECTED – Ken Woodhead, Labour: 489;

Kane Oliver, Independent: 395;

Julie Newing, Independent: 353;

Joe Wiltshire, Conservative: 196;

Rosemary Woods, Green Party: 119.

Greasley ward

ELECTED – Mick Brown, Conservative: 900;

ELECTED – Hannah Crosby, Conservative: 706;

ELECTED – Adam Stockwell, Conservative: 701;

Neil Levett, Labour: 590;

Danny Hall, Labour: 525;

Anne Ryan, Labour: 478;

Carl Lewis, Lib Dem: 277;

Jo Cooke, Lib Dem: 242;

Pat Morton, Green Party: 229;

Arthur Trussell, Liberal Democrats: 114.

Kimberley ward

ELECTED – Andy Cooper, Labour: 936;

ELECTED – Chris Carr, Labour: 902;

ELECTED – William Mee, Labour: 846;

Shane Easom, Conservative: 778;

Hefin Lawlor, Conservative: 652.

Nuthall East and Strelley ward

ELECTED – Philip Owen, Conservative: 736;

ELECTED – Graham Hills, Conservative: 692;

Sheikh Assab, Labour: 609;

Dave Tantum, Labour: 589;

Rachel Gravett, Green Party: 190;

Rebecca Morris-Buck, Lib Dem: 97.

Watnall and Nuthall West – Labour gain

ELECTED – Jill Owen, Conservative: 652;

ELECTED – Peter Bales, Labour: 618;

Bob Willimott, Conservative: 605;

Graham Lambert, Labour: 599.