'PROUD': Northampton Town Council shows support to future Pride events after West Northamptonshire Council withdraws 'officer time'
Northampton Town Council has publicly backed future Pride events saying it was ‘proud’ to be part of it.
On Monday last week Reform leader told a packed Guildhall that West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) will no longer give council officer time to supporting the Pride event in Northampton over claims it was politicised and “hateful things” were shown on garments of participants.
He said: “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 was greeted with applause and ‘hear, hear’ comments in the chamber.
The following day, a lengthy statement was issued on behalf of WNC’s leader stating that the officer time and resource to Northampton Pride on an annual basis totalled 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, according to WNC.
The authority has said it will provide the same level of support to Pride as all other community-led events, to be fair and consistent. Although it is yet to confirm what this means for Pride going forward.
Five days after Cllr Arnull’s announcement, Northampton Town Council (NTC) – which is separate from West Northants – issued a statement to say how proud it was to be involved with Pride.
West Northants Council later reacted to the statement on Facebook with a heart emoji.
A spokesperson for NTC said: What a fantastic day celebrating Northampton Pride!
“We were delighted to be part of this year’s event with our Town Council stall, where we had the opportunity to meet so many members of our community and celebrate alongside them.
“We were also proud to sponsor the stage, helping to support a day filled with entertainment and celebration. It was wonderful to see so many people coming together in such a positive, welcoming atmosphere.
“A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello, and to the organisers, volunteers, performers and everyone who worked so hard to make the day such a success.
“Northampton Pride is a wonderful reminder of the strength of our community and the value of creating spaces where everyone feels welcome and able to be themselves.
“We thoroughly enjoyed being part of the celebrations and look forward to supporting Northampton Pride again in the future.”
Northampton Pride 2026 was supported by a range of sponsors and partners including Northampton Town Council, Northampton BID, UNISON, Michael Jones Jewellers, Buzz Bingo and Tesco through Horlock House, alongside fundraising support from the Northants Lesbian Society who said it was disappointed but not surprised that WNC had withdrawn its support.