THE WYRE Forest divisions in the Worcestershire County Council elections were dominated by Reform UK which took eight of the ten seats.
Only two Conservatives – Chaddesley stalwart and Wyre Forest Disrtrict Council leader, Coun Marcus Hart, and Bewdley’s Dan Morehead managed to hold onto their seats.
Coun Hart told the Standard: “I’m mightily relieved – it has been a relentless campaign.
“I have worked tirelessly for the people of Chaddesley for over eight years and I want to thank every single person who voted for me.”
The results have been stark and echo many happening in other councils across England.
Overall Worcestershire County Council Results
Overall the Conservatives have lost control for the first time in decades.
Reform UK now has 27 seats on the new-look council, the Conservatives have 12, The Green Party has eight councillors, the Liberal Democrats six, Labour two and there are two independents.
Wyre Forest seat results
Below are all the results as they unfolded.
RESULT – St Barnabas – Reform UK GAIN
Bernadette Connor (Labour and Co-operative Party) – 353
Dave Finch (Green Party) – 140
David Ross (Conservative) – 757
Anthony Upton (Reform UK) – 1,022 – ELECTED
Oliver Walker – 167
RESULT – Bewdley – Conservative HOLD
Corinne Bailey (Green Party) – 237
Lisa Hyde (Reform UK) – 1,070
Dan Morehead (Conservative) – 1,244 – ELECTED
Ingrid Shmeising-Barnes (Liberal Democrats) – 131
Rod Stanczyszyn (Labour Party) – 393
RESULT – Stourport – Mitton – Reform UK GAIN
John Caldwell (Liberal Democrats) – 536
Ian Cresswell (Reform UK) – 1,298 – ELECTED
Gilda Davis (Green Party) – 145
Jackie Griffiths (Labour Party) – 332
Chris Rogers (Conservative) – 747
RESULT – Stourport – Arley Kings and Riverside – Reform UK GAIN
William Moule (Labour Party) – 248
Karl Perks (Reform UK) – 1,154 – ELECTED
Timothy Schmeising-Barnes (Liberal Democrat) – 139
Alan Sutton (Conservative) – 596
John Thomas (Independent) – 267
Clive Wood (Green Party) – 124
RESULT – Cookley, Wolverley and Wribbenhall – Reform UK GAIN
Ben Brookes (Conservative) – 975
Philip Edmundson – 454
Clud Gollop (Liberal Democrats) – 118
Jenny Shaw (Reform UK) – 1,122 – ELECTED
Kate Spohrer (Green Party) – 253
RESULT – St Chad’s – Reform UK GAIN
Brett Caullfield (Green Party) – 143
Nigel Grace (Liberal Democrats) – 226
Steven Hollands (Conservative) – 214
Marie Holmes (Labour and Co-operative) – 232
Bill Hopkins (Reform UK) – 812 – ELECTED
Fran Oborski (Liberal Party – Keep In Local) – 591
RESULT – St John’s – Reform UK GAIN
John Beckingham (Labour and Co-operative) – 336
John Campion (Conservative) – 622
John Davis (Green Party) – 247
Matthew Jones (Reform UK) – 946 – ELECTED
Suzanne Nicholl (Liberal Democrats) – 93
Leigh Whitehouse (Independent) – 350
RESULT – Chaddesley – Conservative HOLD
Conservative Marcus Hart spoke of his relief at holding onto his seat. The leader of Wyre Forest District Council polled 1,024, seeing off the challenge from Reform UK’s Philip Hingley by 82 votes.
Coun Hart told the Standard: “I’m mightily relieved – it has been a relentless campaign.
“I have worked tirelessly for the people of Chaddesley for over eight years and I want to thank every single person who voted for me.”
Helen Dyke (Independent) – 664
Linda Hardwick (Liberal Democrat) – 46
Marcus Hart (Conservative) – 1,024 – ELECTED
Philip Hingley (Reform UK) – 948
Stuart Holmes (Labour) – 159
When Nicholson (Green Party) – 108
RESULT – St Peter’s – Reform UK GAIN
Reform UK took their second seat in as many declarations as Rob Wharton polled 813. That was 189 more than Nathan Desmond, the Conservative candidate in second place. In third place was Labour’s Keith Budden on 336 votes.
Mr Wharton said he got into politics as he wanted to ‘make daily life better for people’.
He added one of the issues which would be top of his agenda would be potholes.
On the success of Reform UK, he added he felt many people felt like they had not been listened to for years and wanted their voices to be heard.
Full result below.
Keith Budden (Labour) – 336
Clare Cassidy (Liberal Democrats) – 167
Nathan Desmond (Conservative) – 624
Peter Dyke (Independent) – 234
Doug Hine (Green Party) – 123
Rob Wharton (Reform UK) – 813 – ELECTED
RESULT – St George’s – Reform UK GAIN
In the first result of the afternoon, Reform UK take St George’s from independent Tony Muir. The majority for Mark Crosby was 521 votes with Reform UK first, Independent Tony Muir second on 331, Di Smith (Labour) third and the Conservatives down in fourth.
Mr Crosby said: “I’m absolutely over the moon – it shows the mood and intention of the electorate. I’m pleased for the whole team.”
Full result below
Mark Crosby (Reform UK) – 872 – ELECTED
Kevin Gale (Conervative) – 229
Mark Heafield – Liberal Democrats) – 82
Oskar Hyams (Green Party) – 152
Shazu Miah (Liberal Party – Keep in Local) – 164
Tony Muir (Independent) – 331
Di Smith (Labour and Co-operative) – 309
Turn-out – 26.5 per cent
Voter turn-out
The Voter turn-out has been announced – 33 per cent of people eligible to vote headed to the polls across the Wyre Forest Distrct to cast their ballot yesterday.
Count under way
Verification is complete and counting is under way – there is a lot of milling around with candidates, agents, officials and others. The first expected seat is St George’s.
Several counts were held overnight and there were big gains for Reform UK which has, currently taken 80 seats across the UK, compared to 37 by the Conservatives and 11 for Labour – both those parties have already suffered big losses.
The question is, will Worcestershire be the same. We interviewed Reform UK leader Nigel Farage a fortnight ago who described the Worcestershire candidates as ‘the most optimistic bunch he had met’.
No doubt we will find out as the results unfold. Stay with us for results as and when they come in.
