West Northamptonshire Council Election 2021: Live from the count

Here’s the list of all the results in West Northants:

https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/politics/west-northamptonshire-council-election-2021-all-the-results-for-every-ward-in-your-area-3227934

With the recount finally complete and the last of the 31 ward results declared, the count is finished.

No shock with the overall result in the West Northamptonshire Council elections results.

The Conservatives take control of the county’s first unitary authorities, with a very strong grip and large majority in the west. The party has 66 seats, with 51 percent of the overall votes.

Labour has 17, Liberal Democrats has five, Labour and Co-operative has three and there are two independents with seats.

The local elections this time around had a particularly low turnout at 29.98 percent, but many councillors have suggested the slightly lower than normal number is due to Covid.

More updates in the coming days to follow from the newly formed Northampton Town Council election count and the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner count.

But for now, it is over and out from Team Chron. Goodnight and thanks for sticking with us throughout count day.

Duston East:

Michael Beardsworth - Lib Dem: 280

Vincent Peter Clive - Heritage Party: 185

Paul Stuart Dyball - Con: 1,284 ELECTED

Dave Green - Northampton Save Our Services: 647

Nigel Leslie Hinch - Con: 1,218 ELECTED

Alan Roger Kingston - Lab: 1,065

Greg Lunn - Con: 1,172

Sandie Maitland - Lab: 1,142

Robert Pettitt - Lab: 969

Barbara Walder - Independent: 745

Turnout: 35.52%

Duston East: Elected - Paul Dyball, Nigel Hinch, Greg Lunn - all Conservative.

Now it looks like the BBC have gone home too. Still one ward to declare. Chron team staying to the end to finish the coverage!

Eerily quiet in the counting room - just waiting for the last result to come through. Just us and BBC Northampton have stuck it out to the end, all other media gone home.

And we’re STILL waiting for the final ward.

STILL waiting for the final ward to be declared. Recount in progress.

Still waiting for the last ward to be declared...

The deputy leader of West Northamptonshire’s five newly-elected Liberal Democrat councillors say the party has a “solid base”.

“We could have had a better day,” said Jonathan Harris, who secured one of three seats in Brixworth while Conservatives took the others. “But five seats has been a reasonable day. We were always the party that gets squeezed.

“It’s a very good, solid base with lots of councillors who have had experience in county and borough councils.

“I do think the opposition parties need to think more about how they can work together.

“I think the results today have been led by the national picture. The Liberal Democrats need to work harder to get their message across.”

Husband and wife team, Gareth and Terrie Eales, both won seats as Labour candidates for Dallington Spencer.

Gareth said: “It has been a long day and obviously we are delighted to be re-elected to represent the area of the town I grew up in. It’s a relief to get it out the way and the real work starts - working with people in the authority to make sure Northampton has a strong voice.”

And Terrie added: “It has been a long campaign but it has been all worthwhile. I am really pleased and really grateful for everyone who went out and voted for us. It will be interesting to see what it will be like working with hubby in the same ward because we were on separate wards in the previous council so it will be interesting to see but I’m sure I’ll… manage.”

On the low turnout, Gareth said:

““Low turnout has always concerned me. There’s a debate of making voting mandatory but that’s a debate for a different day. Local council elections that don’t have a general election attached to them are normally pretty low turnout. This is even more so - we can’t deny Covid is a factor in that, there is a fear factor, some people are still anxious about going out and going into polling stations. I think people have other priorities. I think, where the world is at, it’s not a surprise. Very disappointing but not much of a surprise that it was low. I think we were all expecting it to be fair.”

Terrie added: “Yeah, as much as we expect a low turnout, I think it’s our job to give people something to want to come out and vote for. There has been so much stuff we can talk about but, unless we can actually get around and speak to people and get our messages across, we are not giving people enough reason to get out and vote. It is very important and something we should all be looking at.”

The major sentiment of many newly-elected councillors at today’s count for West Northamptonshire has been that it is time to “get on with the unitary”.

With one exception.

In a day that saw Labour take a number of seats in Northampton town’s wards, leader of the party Danielle Stone was pleased with the footholds the opposition had made - while stating her “anger” for the future for Northampton.

She said: “If we had a unitary Northampton I’m pretty confident it would have been a Labour Northampton.

“I’m really, really angry with the reorganisation that’s been imposed upon us.”

The heated remarks came after Labour won three seats in the town’s Castle ward, and on a day that saw the party lay its biggest claim to Abington & Phippsville, Dallington Spencer and St George.

But by the end of the count, West Northamptonshire had been firmly won by Conservatives with more than 60 seats. It was greatly made up of sweeping wins in South Northamptonshire and Daventry, as well as several districts of Northampton.

Danielle Stone said: “I regret the fact that we’re going to be totally dominated by Conservatives that know nothing about Northampton. Conservatives who have not displayed any curiosity about Northampton and don’t seem willing to engage with its communities.

“The Conservatives likely to form the administration for this area are from South Northamptonshire in areas that have not had to deal with opposition. Democracy is important and opposition is a big part of that.”

Behind this, Councillor Stone said she was “delighted” with the seats won in Northampton and said they were “well deserved”.

Daventry West:

Billy James Butler - Con: 975

Adam Charles Collyer - Reform UK: 282

Andrew Stephen Dabbs - Lab: 1,025

Terry Gilford - Con: 1,088 ELECTED

Lauryn Harrington-Carter - Con: 1,042 ELECTED

Wendy Randall - Lab: 1,183 ELECTED

Alasdair James MacKenzie Reid - Lib Dem: 189

Ken Ritchie - Lab: 895

Gordon Smallman - Green: 318

John Boyden Tippett - Daventry West ward standing as Independent: 183

Turnout: 39.42%

Daventry West: Elected - Terry Gilford and Lauryn Harrington-Carter - both Conservative. Wendy Randall - Labour.

Just two more wards to declare - Duston East and Daventry West

Dallington Spencer:

Rufia Ashraf - Lab: 1,230 ELECTED

Harry Bowden - Lib Dem: 221

Gareth Eales - Lab: 1,405 ELECTED

Terrie Eales - Lab: 1,175 ELECTED

Victor Graham-Hole - Con: 697

Aruna Patel - Con: 459

Chintubhai Lalitkumar Shah - Con: 371

Turnout: 26.71%

Dallington Spencer: Elected - Rufia Ashraf, Gareth Eales and Teresa Eales - All Labour.

Conservatives: 61, Labour: 13, Liberal Democrats: 5, Labour and Co-operative: 3 and Independents: 2. With three wards to go