County council election could be the last

BIG LOCAL GOVERNMENT SHAKE-UP IS ON THE WAY

- OLIVER PRIDMORE

CANDIDATES have been revealed for what is set to be the last Nottinghamshire County Council election.

The currently Conservative-controlled authority is set to be abolished in the coming years under government plans to shake up councils across the country.

The plans have seen elections in many areas cancelled, but the Nottinghamshire County Council vote is going ahead as planned on May 1. The last election for the authority was held in 2021 and saw the Conservatives win 37 seats, more than the 34 out of 66 seats needed for a majority.

Labour won 15 at the 2021 election and the Ashfield Independents won 10. The leader of the council at the 2021 election was the Conservative Kay Cutts, who was soon taken over by Ben Bradley.

The authority is now being led by the Conservative Sam Smith after Ben Bradley stepped back from frontline politics. Nottinghamshire County Council currently manages major services like roads and social care, whilst seven district and boroughs manage smaller services like bin collections.

Nottingham City Council is a unitary authority, meaning it manages both the large and smaller scale services in its area. The government's plans will see another unitary created, abolishing the seven district and boroughs.

Debate continues about what that means for Nottinghamshire's future political map. Nottinghamshire County Council is the only authority in our area affected by the May 2025 local elections and below are all the candidates standing in each of the 66 seats.

ASHFIELD

Ashfields

Alan Bite - Reform UK

John Coxhead - Labour

Dawn Hodgman - Conservative

Kerry Thornton - Independent

Jason Zadrozny - Ashfield Independent

Hucknall North

Martin Howes - Liberal Democrat

Aimee Kimpton - Labour

Rachel Kotze - Conservative

Sean Neale Reform UK

John Wilmott - Ashfield Independent