It was a close race between Reform, the Tories and the Greens
Reform UK celebrates with winning candidate Dee North (second right)(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
Reform UK has narrowly retained a Leicestershire County Council seat, with the winner claiming there was “dirty fighting” from opponents in the by-election campaign.
Dr Dee North took the Narborough and Whetstone seat, beating the Conservatives by just over 100 votes.
The win sees Reform retain the seat which had been vacated by Councillor Andrew Thorp who stepped down due to ill health earlier this year.
In the end, it was a tight race between three parties, with the Reform UK securing a winning 1,033 votes, the Conservatives in second with 927, while the Green Party came third with 884 votes.
Counting went on through the night before a declaration was called just before 12.30am on Friday (April 17). Candidates were called into a room twice, and even witnessed a minor bundle check of the votes due to the closeness of the election.
The result means Reform managed to hold onto its seat, but with a lower share seen in the 2025 election when the party received 42.3 per cent.
The Conservatives managed to get 29.5 per cent of the vote, up from 24.5 per cent in 2025, and the Green Party increased its vote share from 14.8 per cent to 28.2 per cent.
After the result was read out, Cllr North said it was the “people’s choice across Narborough and Whetstone”.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) she said: “I think the community needs strong representation and that’s exactly what I’ll deliver.
“I’m really glad we got to retain the seat and I think it is the right choice locally. There was some dirty fighting, but I don’t want to dignify any of it with a response.
“I just want to say thank you to those who voted for me”.
Conservative candidate and Blaby district councillor Les Phillimore told the LDRS the result was “disappointing”.
He said: “We would always hope to win. We worked really hard as a team. I have a really strong track record in supporting communities on all sorts of different things
“I will never mislead residents, and we’re still in an era of protest votes. It’s always difficult to compete against protest votes. I will just carry on doing what I do and supporting my residents”.
The full results are as follows:
- Martin Garfoot – Advance UK – 28 votes
- Mike Jelfs – The Green Party – 884 votes
- Dee North – Reform UK – 1,033 votes
- Lisa Jane Pendery Hunt – Labour Party – 124 votes
- Les Phillimore – The Conservative Party – 927 votes
- Ande Savage – Liberal Democrats – 134 votes
The total of rejected votes was seven, and the turnout was 29.55 per cent.
