The Labour Party has secured overall control of Mansfield District Council after gaining a significant majority on the council. The group, led by Andy Abrahams, reached 25 councillors out of a possible 39 and also secured a significant victory in the mayoral poll.
It means the group holds 26 seats in the chamber – including the mayoral role, which Mr Abrahams secured with 9,987 votes. Councillor Andre Camilleri, of the Conservatives, finished in second during the mayoral count but successfully gained election onto the council in Berry Hill.
Cllr Mick Barton (Mans Ind) finished third in the mayoral poll and saw his Mansfield Independents slump from 13 to three councillors in the chamber. But the Conservatives recorded a record five seats at the Civic Centre and will now be the official opposition on the authority for the first ever time.
Speaking after the election victory, re-elected mayor Andy Abrahams said: “I’m absolutely exuberant and I am surprised because I never thought I’d we could convert the work in the community into this number of seats. I’m over the moon.”
The former controlling Mansfield Independents – which lost the mayoral election by two votes in 2019 – struggled to retain the 13 seats it won in 2019 and lost many local counts to Labour. It allowed the Labour Group to capitalise and take overall control of the council after a significant drop off in Mansfield Independent vote share.
Speaking on his party’s slump in the vote, former deputy mayor Cllr Barton – who was re-elected in the Maun Valley ward, said: “The vote has dropped off but I think one of the reasons is a lot of promises by the other groups to get rid of the mayor.
“[My priority] will be to hold the mayor to account and try to get him to a lot of the manifesto pledges I made and try to get some of them in. We want to serve the residents, that’s what we’re all about and there’s no politics.”
Among the Tory victories was Cllr Nigel Moxon, who unseated existing Mansfield Independent Cllr Bill Drewett following a recount to take control of the Ling Forest ward. Cllr Sinead Anderson (Con), the wife of Conservative Party deputy chairman and Ashfield MP Lee Anderson, also retained a seat on the authority in Thompsons.
And Cllr Ben Brown secured a victory in the town’s new West Bank ward. But Cllr Liz Langrick (Con) was the successful Tory candidate that saw the Conservatives surpass their two-seat tally from 2019.
Speaking after her victory, she said: “I can’t believe it but we have worked really hard as a team. We’ve not all been successful but it’s been a team effort.
“It’s fantastic, we’ve increased on what we had before and for us it’s massive. As Conservatives, Mansfield was always going to be an uphill battle with the national picture so it’s great to see we made some in-roads.”
Longstanding independents Cllr June Stendall and Cllr Steve Garner both also retained their seats amid a fight from the other political groups. It means the final results in the chamber are 25 Labour councillors (plus the Labour mayor), five Conservatives, four Mansfield Independents and two unaligned independents.
Turnout for the election was 27 per cent, which was a drop from the 29.76 per cent turnout in 2019.
Below are the election results in full, with successful candidates in italics.
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Mayor - Turnout 27.68%
Andy Abrahams – Labour - 9,987
Mick Barton – Mansfield Independents - 4,992
Andre Camilleri – Conservative - 5,832
Karen Rachel Mary Seymour – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition - 420
Julie Margaret Tasker-Love-Birks – Independent - 936
Bancroft - Turnout 20.75%
Mandy Christine Jackson – Mansfield Independents - 95
Robert Learmonth – Conservative - 84
Sue Swinscoe – Labour - 286
Denis Nneka Tooley-Okonkwo – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition - 12
Berry Hill - Turnout 41.34%
Stephen Timothy Bodle – Mansfield Independents - 231
Andre Camilleri – Conservative - 456
Michelle Laing – Labour - 214
Brick Kiln - Turnout 24.05%
Faith Bekis – Conservative - 92
Terry Clay – Labour - 306
Deb Hodson – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition - 13
Ben Hollywood – Mansfield Independents - 75
Carr Bank - Turnout 20.89%
Michael Antony Abbs – Labour - 206
Kelvin Gene Peters – Conservative - 72
Stuart Wilson Wallace – Mansfield Independents - 175
Central - Turnout 19.62%
Charles Anderson – Conservative - 70
Charles Ian Hammersley – Labour - 235
Andy Johnson – Mansfield Independents - 98
Paul Tooley-Okonkwo – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition - 18
Eakring - Turnout 26.08%
Joshua Kevin Charles – Conservative - 189
John Christopher Peter Metcalfe – Labour - 257
Stewart Edward Rickersey – Mansfield Independents - 172
Grange Farm - Turnout 35.69%
Leah Jade Hartshorn – Labour - 210
John Kenneth Roughton – Conservative - 157
Il-Suna Petek Sato – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition - 15
June Stendall – Independent - 467
Holly Forest Town - Turnout 29.25%
Shelly Burnett – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition - 11
Bo Hitchmough – Conservative - 90
Donna Marie Thomas – Labour - 165
Martin Wright – Mansfield Independents - 439
Hornby - Turnout 32.25%
Vic Bobo - Conservative - 208
Anne Callaghan – Labour - 316
Ruth Ford – Mansfield Independents - 176
Kings Walk - Turnout 26.92%
Rouchelle Lorna Evans – Labour - 211
Stephen Harvey – Independent - 66
Liz Langrick – Conservative - 218
Kev Brown – Mansfield Independents - 109
Kingsway Forest Town - Turnout 27.23%
Robert Arthur Corden – Conservative - 234
Angie Jackson – Labour - 301
Gio Loperfido – Mansfield Independents - 151
Lindhurst - Turnout 34.78%
Tom Birchall – Mansfield Independents - 78
Neil Paul Smith – Conservative - 127
Rich Mitchell-Tempest – Labour - 281
Ling Forest - Turnout 29.53%
Andrea Dickens – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition - 7
Bill Drewett – Mansfield Independents - 215
Nigel Moxon – Conservative - 223
Zoe Lawrence-Newton – Labour - 181
Manor - 29.09%
Paul Simon Lawrence – Conservative -212
Jayne Elizabeth Riddin – Mansfield Independents - 138
Craig Lea Whitby – Labour - 368
Market Warsop - Turnout 25.15%
Debra Louise Barlow – Independent - 172
Joe Johnson – Mansfield Independents - 50
Jack William Lewis Stephenson – Labour - 222
Rita Bernadette Townsend – Conservative - 55
Ruth Truswell – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition - 6
Maun Valley Forest Town - Turnout 30.14%
Mick Barton – Mansfield Independents - 425
Shane Andrew Roy Draper – Labour - 207
Karen Rachel Mary Seymour – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition - 12
Keith Townsend – Conservative - 137
Meden - Turnout 27.73%
Denise Answer – Mansfield Independents - 101
Grant Bembridge – Conservative - 166
Andy Wetton – Labour- 433
Mill Lane - Turnout 28.39%
Caroline Ann Ellos – Labour Party - 287
Shirley Peters – Conservative - 138
Andrea Russell – Mansfield Independents - 189
Netherfield - Turnout 26.76%
Timothy Peter Bower – Conservative - 116
David Hughes – Labour - 298
Philip Shields – Independent - 135
Newlands Forest Town - Turnout 22.96%
Pippa Clements – Conservative - 108
Andrew Shooter – Labour - 158
Sid Walker – Mansfield Independents - 210
Oak Tree - Turnout 23.22
Gemma Canlin – Mansfield Independents - 105
Paul Nigel Henshaw – Labour - 186
Nick Marks – Conservative - 149
Milo Elijah Tooley-Okonkwo – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition - 3
Oakham - Turnout 34.87%
Robert Philip Elliman – Conservative - 309
Stephen John North – Labour - 357
Craig Sims – Mansfield Independents - 136
Park Hall - Turnout 28.78%
Jacob Ki Thomas Denness – Labour - 299
Dean Ellis – Mansfield Independents - 204
Alice Mary Kurylo – Conservative - 212
Penniment - Turnout 32.65%
Adam Nigel Brailsford – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition - 17
Stuart Richardson – Labour - 313
Michael Roger Shilladay – Conservative - 87
David Smith – Mansfield Independents - 253
Pleasley - Turnout 23.22%
Chris Clarke – Green - 53
Sharron Hartshorn – Labour - 200
Jak Daniel Shuttleworth – Conservative - 82
Brian Wheatcroft – Mansfield Independents - 74
Racecourse - Turnout 27.23%
Steve Garner – Independent - 405
Rob Kinton – Labour - 196
Vicki Wright – Mansfield Independents - 102
Rock Hill - Turnout 20.63%
Shaun Anthoney – Mansfield Independents - 57
Mark Stephen Garner – Independent - 163
Diana Camille McKenzie – Labour - 212
Julie Robinson – Conservative - 57
Rufford - Turnout 27.8%
Barry Michael Answer – Mansfield Independents - 266
Garry Cole – Labour - 264
Gareth Corden – Conservative - 130
Shaun Dennis Thornton – Green - 26
Sherwood - Turnout 27.60%
Alan Bell – Labour and Co-operative - 279
Emma Camina – Conservative - 114
Teresa Hanstock – Mansfield Independents - 193
Southwell - Turnout 22.35%
Elliott Marcus Brown – Conservative - 105
Charlotte Ruth Inkle – Labour - 265
Craig Vernon – Mansfield Independents - 84
Thompsons - Turnout 36.25%
Sinead Anne Anderson – Conservative - 348
Dennis Robinson – Labour - 253
Roger Sutcliffe – Mansfield Independents - 327
Vale - Turnout 24.03%
Jane Kathleen Beachus – Labour - 303
Wendy Cook – Mansfield Independents - 146
Gill Maharjan – Green - 19
Michelle Patricia Swain – Conservative - 83
Wainwright - Turnout 23.44%
Lynn Henshaw – Labour - 280
Ian Sheppard – Mansfield Independents - 115
Beverley Smith – Conservative - 99
Warsop Carrs - Turnout 26.89%
Ben Bonser – Mansfield Independents - 57
Andy Burgin – Labour - 491
Robyn Hendley – Green - 21
Barbara Henson – Conservative - 110
West Bank - Turnout 29.82%
Ben Brown – Conservative - 240
Faz Choudhury – Mansfield Independents - 178
Sally Anne Higgins – Labour - 208
Tony Jones – Reform UK - 28
Yeoman Hill - Turnout 25.12%
Stuart Butler – Mansfield Independents - 110
John Coxhead – Labour - 339
Andy Tyler – Conservative - 126
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