By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
Conservative and Reform UK leaders have both insisted their parties have what it takes to prevail in hotly-contested elections in Nottinghamshire’s ‘Red Wall’ seats, which are targets to be retaken by a Labour party far ahead in the opinion polls.
Tory party chair Richard Holden spoke to local members in Mansfield on Friday (March 15) ahead of this year’s East Midlands mayoral and General Elections.
Meanwhile, Reform UK chair Richard Tice toured Ashfield on a bus, joined by the party’s first MP, Lee Anderson.
Mr Anderson had been suspended from the Conservative party after saying Islamists “had control” of London Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan. He announced he’d joined Reform UK on Monday.
All parties are paying close attention to which way Ashfield, Mansfield and other ‘Red Wall’ seats which were traditionally Labour until 2019 will swing in the General Election, due to be held later this year.
“I wish Lee had apologised for his comments but that’s up to him,” the Conservative party chair said.
“We’ve got a fighting chance to retake Ashfield. Each candidate likes to think it’s about them personally, but really it’s about the local party’s ideas.
“Ashfield could well be a four-way race. Any vote against a Conservative makes it more likely of returning a Labour MP.”
However, the Reform chair predicted more Red Wall MPs would defect to his party before the election.
“I would be surprised if we get to the autumn and more MPs haven’t recognised Reform stands for what people want to vote for,” said Mr Tice at a campaign stop in Selston – something the Conservative chair disputes.
“Nottinghamshire is a key part of our target area. I believe after the election, we will be the main alternative party in the county.”
Lee Anderson said it would be “up to MPs to wrestle with their own conscience” about which party they stood for.
The Conservative party is currently trailing Labour in the polls by a significant margin, with some forecasts predicting the party could lose many of its Nottinghamshire seats.
Mr Holden was upbeat about overturning the deficit before the election, which needs to be called by December at the latest.
“I’ve spoken to members of the Australian Liberal party who were 16 points behind six months before an election – they came within a whisker of winning. Nothing is written.
“It won’t be easy to win the West Midlands mayoral election, but with a great campaign over the next seven weeks, I think we can take East Midlands. It will be a tough fight, but [Conservative candidate] Ben Bradley can do it.”
Reform UK responded to calls from Nottinghamshire councils across the political spectrum for more government funding.
Mr Tice said: “The money is there, but we’ve got to spend it properly. There’s far too much waste, with billions being spent deal with the small boats that are arriving.
“The potholes around Ashfield are a symbol of broken Britain.”
The Ashfield MP said councils were welcome to raise their taxes, but it shouldn’t be the place of the government to redistribute taxpayers’ money.
Council leader Jason Zadrozny (Ind) and Rhea Keehn (Lab) also plan to stand for the Ashfield constituency next General Election.
Claire Ward (Lab), Cllr Matt Relf (Ind), Alan Graves (Reform) and Frank Adlington-Stringer (Green) are standing to be the first Mayor of the East Midlands Combined County Authority, which will be chosen on May 2.
May 2 also sees a Police and Crime Commissioner election for Nottinghamshire. The post is currently held by Conservative Caroline Henry. Labour have announced former police officer Gary Godden will stand for them in the vote.
