West Northamptonshire Council Election 2021: Live from the count

Turnout figure in North Northamptonshire was higher - 34.6%

On the low turnout figure of 29.98%, James Hill, Conservative candidate, Billing and Rectory Farm, said: "I'm not surprised really, but it is disappointing. We tried to push postal votes.

“Local elections do have low turnouts, combined with Covid.

“We need to find a way to get people engaged and get younger councillors coming through.”

An example of how the new unitary council has led to a reshuffling of which councillors are aiming for which seats can be found in Abington and Phippsville, writes Alastair Ulke.

One of Labour’s hopeful’s for the ward, Zoe Smith, is standing for a seat after more than five years as the area’s borough councillor.

But under the former county council, Abington and Phippsville’s councillor was Labour leader Danielle Stone, who instead is taking her attention away to stand for Castle ward in the town centre, where she herself was borough councillor for nearly 10 years.

It draws to light how this year’s candidates have had to work inside their parties to decide how they can spread their efforts across the unitary authorities 93 available seats.

Zoe Smith said the unitary reshuffling had been a chance for Labour to prove its “teamwork”.

She said: “It’s been a real team effort. I think the move to unitary is important, because of the opportunities to bring together county and borough services.

“One of the main things residents have spoken to me about is how they have tried to get something done and were frustrated with how services were held by different authorities.

“And I think there’s a good chance Abington and Phippsville will remain Labour. In terms of working as a team, Bob Purser and Walter Tarasiewicz [Labour’s other candidates for the seat] have been fantastic and we’ve had a great chance to meet people a lot.”

Fiona Baker was also talking about children’s services in Northamptonshire, which was a campaign issue for Labour in particular, who were heavily critical of how the former Northamptonshire County Council had run the services, writes Megan Hillery.

The West Northamptonshire Labour Manifesto said that the Conservative-run council “ran a failing children’s service for seven years. In fact, there have been three serious children’s case reviews in the last 12 months.”

Ms Baker was the former cabinet member for children, families and education at Northamptonshire County Council

.

Speaking to us earlier, she said: “I believe children in Northampton have been failed, but what [Labour] neglects to say is we have been on an improvement journey and OFSTED have recognised that.

“OFSTED do not give you a good rating in five minutes, they want to make time so it is better for the future.

“They have previously said children are unsafe, but they have said they aren’t now and we have another inspection in mid-July."

She added: “I was turning around the children’s services and I was proud of the work I have done there.

Here’s hall two where the count for the Northampton wards are taking place

The count is well underway now and the hall is a hive of activity.

We will get some reaction to that turnout figure, but it is low. Interesting to see the politicians’ reaction to that and the reasons why.

That equates to 107,095 votes across Northampton, South Northamptonshire Council and Daventry

Turnout for the WNC elections is now in - 29.98%

Councillors are now at the count and giving their thoughts on the election campaign, writes Carly Odell.

Here’s Fiona Baker, Conservative candidate for Brackley:“The three Conservative candidates for Brackley decided we would deliver our own leaflets to meet as many people as possible and have that personal touch.

“We have worked hard and a lot of people in Brackley do know who we are.

“The big focus for us will be to make sure sure Brackley is mentioned in county conversations so the people do not feel left out.

“A lot of people think the county ends in Towcester, but there is quite a bit further than that.

“I’m keen to speak out on behalf of the residents.

“I have always done that and I have always told people I might be small but I’m not afraid to speak out.“I have been trying for ten years to get a skate park in Brackley.

“The problem is Brackley Town Council do not own any land that we can put one on.

“We are now working with the district council about land at the leisure centre and we are very near to agreeing that.

“It has been something residents have wanted through two generations of young people.”