‘Disappointed but not surprised’: Lesbian Society say ‘writing was on the wall’ for Reform to withdraw officer support for Northampton Pride

The ninth annual festival, organised by the Northampton Pride Committee, was held in the Market Square on Saturday July 11 with West Northants Council (WNC) publicising the event promising to ‘once again bring together residents and visitors in a vibrant celebration of the LGBTQ+ community.’

‘Following the success of previous years, organisers are looking forward to welcoming crowds for a day filled with entertainment, inclusivity and community spirit’, the council press release stated.

Councillor Charlie Hastie, deputy leader, was even quoted as saying that Pride was a ‘valued event’ and that WNC was ‘pleased’ to be supporting it.

However just two days after the well-attended event, the Reform-led WNC said it would no longer support Pride over claims it was politicised and “hateful things” were shown on garments of participants.

Reform leader Mark Arnull told a packed council chamber on Monday evening: “We will only do what is right for every resident in West Northamptonshire, not a small minority of people that want to turn something into a political funfair.

“So in terms of Pride, this council will not be contributing in any way to Pride, be it officer time – it has not issued anything financially in the last year – but in terms of officer time, I am absolutely certain now that our goal is to contribute to every resident’s welfare in this county and we will get on with it now.”

Councillor Arnull’s comments were greeted with applause and ‘hear, hear’ comments in the chamber.

Euphoria Scargill, community organiser on behalf of Northants Lesbian Society, told the Chron: “I am disappointed but not surprised. I feel that they were looking for any reason to do so after already having denied us funding for this year.

"Myself and others in the committee already felt that the writing was on the wall and had been planning to form and independent committee for 2027 and beyond in order to ensure the future of the event.”

Pride saw a reduced set up for 2026 with a smaller stage and shorter programme following an ‘operational decision’ made by the committee – according to WNC in the lead up to the event.

Whilst WNC didn’t offer funding, it did offer the Market Square free of charge as well as providing ‘administrative and practical support to assist with delivery of the event’.

This included officer time and support with planning, safety and coordination. WNC would not put a financial value on this when the Chron asked in the weeks leading up to Pride, instead saying it was being provided in ‘kind’.

However, in a new statement issued on Tuesday evening, the council confirmed the cost was nearly £10,000.

It has not yet been confirmed if Councillor Arnull or any Reform councillors attended Pride but they were not photographed or seen at the event by the Chron team or organisers.

Addressing the council meeting, Councillor Arnull said: “Some the scenes this weekend were rather disappointing that certain events were politicised and certain hateful things were shown on garments in the Market Square.”

Euphoria said the successful event was ‘lovely’ despite not receiving any funding from the council.

Euphoria said: “Interesting that Mark Arnull, who represents reform, a party that has prided itself in standing up for free speech, finds himself to be so personally offended by t-shirts worn by members of the public.

"I cannot see how he can make any argument otherwise while still upholding Reform's policy of defending free speech.”

The Chron submitted a series of questions West Northants Council this morning (Tuesday). It has not yet responded to them but did however issue a press release to the majority of journalists in Northampton at 5.45pm saying that a total of 64 working days had been taken up helping to organise Pride this year.

WNC said that amounted to the equivalent to £9,942 of public funding in terms of office time and resource in comparison to Diwali and Daventry Pride which it said are ‘run self-sufficiently by organisers through effective use of grants or sponsorship’.

WNC said the decision brought Pride “in line with all other community-led events run self-sufficiently without extra support from WNC”.

A spokesperson said: “The council, which continues to face financial challenges, has provided officer time and resource to Northampton Pride on an annual basis, totalling around 64 working days, including administrative duties, programme planning and booking acts, traffic management and health and safety assessments, business and public liaison and media and marketing support. In financial terms, the officer time and resources are equivalent to £9,942 of public funding.”

Councillor Arnull added: “Our council remains committed to supporting the wide range of community-led events and activities across West Northamptonshire and we need to be fair and consistent in how we give that support to groups and organisations.

“Most community-led events, such as Diwali and Daventry Pride, are run self-sufficiently by organisers through effective use of grants or sponsorship. However historically, Northampton Pride has continued to receive significant officer time and resource from the Council, equivalent to nearly £10,000 in taxpayers' money.

“In an extremely challenging financial climate, where delivering the same level of service to all our residents for less resource continues to be a real challenge, our decision to withdraw officer resource ensures we are acting fairly in the interest of all our residents.”

Councillor Hastie added: “We remain committed to supporting community-led events across West Northamptonshire and wish Northampton Pride every success with its future events.”