Friday brief: Reform UK win by-election
The party has won a Corby by-election today, plus more news from across the county
Reform UK have won back their seat on North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) after voters went to the polls for the Lloyds and Corby Village ward.
The by-election was called after former Reform UK Cllr Robert Bloom stood down in August, after the Northamptonshire Telegraph published allegations that he had used racial slurs against a family in his neighbourhood.
He won the seat for the first time for Reform UK in May, but was in post for just under four months.
On Thursday, October 9, voters in the Lloyds and Corby Village ward went to the polls to elect a new councillor to serve the rest of the four-year period. The winner was announced this morning.
Reform UK’s Lee Duffy won the seat with 754 votes, 119 votes ahead of the Labour candidate who came in second. He refused to talk to the media after he was announced as winner.
He will now join Labour Cllr Mark Pengelly in representing Lloyds and Corby Village on the council.
Turnout for the by-election was 22.8 per cent, less than the earlier May elections where the Lloyds and Corby Village ward had a 25 per cent turnout. The size of the electorate is 8,634 people.
Cllr Martin Griffiths, Reform UK Leader on NNC, said: “Lee has been a community champion in Corby for many years and I know he will serve the residents of Lloyds and Corby Village brilliantly, whichever way they voted.
“Lee shares my ambition to ensure that in the years ahead, NNC will complete its journey and transformation into an exemplary council that puts families and communities first and foremost, as we roll out and deliver on our brand new corporate plan.
“I am extremely proud to lead a group of councillors, like Lee, who care passionately about their place and the people they serve.”
The result does not change who is in control of North Northants Council as Reform already have enough seats for a majority. There are now 40 Reform UK, 13 Conservatives, eight Greens, four Labour, and one Lib Dem and two Independent councillors on NNC.
Report by Nadia Lincoln
The full list of results is below:
Paul John Byrne (Conservative) – 86 votes
Geri Cullen (Labour) – 635 votes
Lee Duffy (Reform UK)- 754 votes ELECTED
Lee Forster (Green)- 371 votes
Alex Lock (Liberal Democrat)- 113 votes
News in brief
A woman has been arrested for murder after a man in his 70s was found dead at a flat in Raunds.
Police were called to an address in Brook Street on Wednesday afternoon at 3.40pm.
The woman, aged 38, was arrested yesterday and remains in police custody.
Anyone with information can call police on 101 and quote reference 25000592112.
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has said it will clear its backlog in issuing care plans for children with special educational needs and disabilities by the new year.
Assistant Director of Education, Ben Pearson, said that at the time of the authority’s SEND service inspection in March last year, nearly 1,000 children were waiting for their Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) assessments. As of June this year, the number dropped to just over 660 plans that still needed to be finalised.
A Children, Education & Housing Scrutiny Committee meeting last Thursday (October 2) heard that, as a result of continued investment and recruitment in teams, EHC trajectory shows the backlog will be cleared by January 2026.
An EHC plan is for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is ordinarily available to address their special educational needs or disabilities.
As part of the Council’s priority action plan to improve its SEND provision, it has created an extra 17 caseworker posts and two EHC service manager posts.
Report by Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
A Tory councillor has quit the party in response to the party’s stance on leaving the European Convention on Human Rights.
Scott Brown, who represents the Earls Barton ward on North Northamptonshire Council, has said Kemi Badenoch’s announcement that any future Tory government would is a “fundamental departure from the principles that have long defined our party”.
He will now sit as an independent.
Plans to convert a vacant former vintage store in Kettering into an eight-person HMO have been given the go-ahead by North Northants Council (NNC).
The two-storey property at 2 Tresham Street is located within a largely residential street, just outside the town centre. No on-site parking spaces will be provided for the new use.
The proposals were put before NNC’s planning committee on Wednesday (October 8), after a number of objections were lodged about insufficient parking, fear of crime and antisocial behaviour, and worsened pedestrian safety.
Cllr Lux Williams, deputy chair of planning for Kettering Town Council, raised concerns to the committee that there are already three large HMOs in the vicinity, “all of whom are competing for limited parking spaces”.
Cllr Paul Brooke added:
“I have some family and friends that live in that area and the whole of that area is a mare for parking.
“Literally, if you leave your space you ain’t going to come back to it.”
However, the local highway authority did not object to the HMO plans, stating that the new use actually decreases the need for car parking by three spaces, compared to what was required for the retail store.
This will be the first time the property has changed to a residential use, having previous stints as a warehouse, office, vet surgery, nursery, and most recently a craft and vintage shop.
The HMO plans were approved by the committee.
Report by Nadia Lincoln
Crime in West Northants in the year to March this year dropped by almost two percent according to a community safety report.
The number of recorded crimes dropped from 31,883 to 31,309, however reports of rape in the Daventry and South Northants area increased by 8 per cent during that time.
More than half of the 124 rapes reported had a ‘domestic flag’ attached to them. Sexual offences in Northampton also rose by 21 per cent, with a significant number in the castle ward. However violent offences in Northampton were down by eight per cent.
The report will be discussed by the west unitary council’s communities scrutiny committee next Tuesday.
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has announced its plans to bring a building in a ‘prominent’ town centre location back into consistent use, after proposals to convert it into a new Centre for Leather fell through.
Albion House, which sits next to the St John’s multi-storey car park on Victoria Promenade, was earmarked to become a place for all things leather after the defunct Northampton Borough Council agreed to sell the building to a charitable trust nearly five years ago.
The sale was supposed to see the building become a national leather conservation centre, as well as offering a space for university students on design and leather courses to train.
A WNC spokesman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that it still owns Albion House and is “exploring future options for the site”, with the Leather Museum proposal not proceeding.
They added:
“The council is committed to ensuring that this prominent location contributes positively to Northampton town centre and is hopeful that a decision for the site will be made later in the year.”
The four-storey building was originally purchased by the borough council in 2015 for £500,000. It is currently only partly occupied, with parts used by WNC for storage.
The upper floor was previously let to a commercial tenant and used as offices, however they vacated in September 2024. There is also currently a Telecoms operator with equipment and masts on the roof, who is due to vacate in December.
Since the final commercial tenant moved out last year, WNC said maintenance costs have reduced and the building is being kept part-compliant for roof access at a price tag of £3,950 per year.
The council has said that it is currently making plans for the future of the site, once all existing uses have come to an end.
By Nadia Lincoln
Well Done, Nadia!
You've had a busy week with excellent and informative reporting.