The Labour leader of Stevenage Borough Council would not be drawn on whether he still backs Sir Keir Starmer after his party lost nine of the 12 seats they were defending at yesterday’s elections (Thursday, May 7).
Asked if he still backed Sir Keir as Labour leader, Cllr Richard Henry said: “I’m concentrating on what we’ve got today.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do over the weekend to look at because I’ve lost two portfolio holders. I’ve got to concentrate on that.
“Obviously, when you get a government mid-term … two years in, then you get people challenging local councils because of the national situation.”
Cllr Henry said he was “very sad” that Jeannette Thomas, deputy leader of the council, and Simon Speller, cabinet member for leisure, had lost their seats in Almond Hill and Shephall respectively.
He said he was “really pleased” that Labour had kept control of the council – they now hold 22 of its 39 seats – and added that it was “fantastic” that they had beaten Mason Humberstone, leader of the Reform UK group at the council after he defected from Labour, in Old Town ward.
Cllr Henry said that he will “reach out” to Reform UK, which is now the official opposition on the council with 10 seats, after the election.
He said that he will speak to the Reform and Liberal Democrat leaders to “agree that we will be respectful and challenge on views, not on personality or attacking people”.
“I’m hoping that they will be sensible,” he added.
Mr Humberstone said that despite the loss of his Old Town seat, it had been “a massive win” for Reform UK in Stevenage, with nine gains across the borough.
“We have had a phenomenal campaign, and we’ve achieved so much.
“The people’s voice is now back in that chamber where it belongs, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic.
“To come from nothing … what we have achieved just shows that something is happening out there. The people want change, and they want their town back, and they want their country back, and we’re going to give it to them.”
One of the potential contenders to take over as Reform UK group leader is Cllr Doug Bainbridge, who won in Woodfield today and already leads the party’s Hertfordshire County Council group.
Cllr Bainbridge said his candidates had worked “tirelessly” and he is “sure … we can repay those people that have given us their trust”.
“They’re giving us a chance … we come with a clean slate [and] hopefully we can prove to these people that we are serious about what we’re going to do.”
He said his group would “not be involved” in “personal backstabbing, bitching, and what have you”.
“We’re going to speak about what we’re going to do and how we’re going to deliver it,” he said.
Speaking about Mr Humberstone, Cllr Bainbridge said: “He’s been quite a trooper.
“He’s worked extremely hard and … I feel sorry for him but … that’s politics isn’t it?
“Unfortunately, he came from the left, he came from a hard left Labour council and, all of a sudden, he’s got different values.
“I suspect that a lot of the people who follow politics in the Old Town specifically found that a little bit difficult to swallow.
“But I wish him well, we’ll see him back without a doubt. He looks very dejected and very upset, and I get that because he has been … front and centre of the campaigning.”
Cllr Bainbridge said the party will now elect a new leader at a group meeting, and added: “Maybe they’ll select me, I don’t know. If they do, then I will accept it.”
The other party to enjoy a large rise in their share of the vote yesterday was the Green party, with 15.66% of the vote, a larger percentage than either the Conservatives or Liberal Democrats.
Jack Downie-Webb, who was their candidate in Symonds Green ward, said he is “absolutely over the moon” with the number of votes the Greens received.
He said: “We’ve had a Labour council for a good few decades … there are lots of local issues that people feel as though they aren’t being listened to.
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“People want change. More and more people are starting to see that change and momentum is with the Green Party, and the hopeful politics of the Green Party, of being unified, is a more appealing voice than a lot of the divisive, inflammatory things that Reform platform themselves on.”
Mr Downie-Webb added that there was no disappointment about failing to win a seat in Stevenage, and continued: “The fact that we’ve come second in a couple of wards, wards that were previously safe Labour wards, is incredibly exciting.
“Labour have a lot of funding, Reform have a lot of funding, everything that you saw from us was out of our own pockets.
“All we had were our legs and our voices, and we were still able to come second in a good couple of wards.
“I think that’s a David and Goliath story and I’m really proud of it.”
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