Councillor pledges his allegiance to leader - and votes against him

BARTON WINS IN FIERY MEETING

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

ANOTTINGHAMSHIRE Reform UK councillor has pledged his “unwavering allegiance” to his leader after voting against his preference on a huge boundary shakeup in a fiery meeting.

The Nottingham Post recently reported on a claim that Reform’s two Arnold North county councillors said at a public surgery that they could end up suspended if they did not back their leader's local government reorganisation preference.

The story led Reform UK’s Councillor Mick Barton, leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, to impose an unprecedented ban on the Post and the Local Democracy Reporters we manage. The meeting in which Councillor Barton’s councillors had to vote on reorganisation, and his preference for a bigger Nottingham covering Broxtowe and Gedling, has now seen one of them vote against him.

Yesterday's meeting became fiery at times and council chairwoman Councillor Jan Goold had to stand up and intervene at one point during an argument between the Conservative opposition leader and a Reform cabinet member, telling them both: “Stop it”

Councillor John Semens, one of the Arnold North councillors quoted in our original article, explained his decision to vote against Councillor Barton by saying: “I actually owe [reorganisation] an awful lot. When the devolution white paper was released in December, we in Gedling were getting ready to start our campaign.