have narrowly beaten Reform in the Northumberland County Council election after winning just three more seats that Nigel Farage's party.
Voters across headed the polls to elect councillors for all 67 seats. It was the first county council in England to declare all its results after a buzzing overnight count, with Conservatives winning 26 seats, Reform 23, Labour eight, Independents seven, Liberal Democrats three and Greens two.
This means that the county council remains in no overall control, but with the Tories and now holding 49 of the 69 seats on the council, it raises the question of whether the parties will have to make a deal in order to run it together. The council was previously led by a minority Tory administration, with the party down seven and Labour down nine, while Reform previously had no seats on the council.
Elsewhere, Reform have , while Andrea Jenkyns stormed home to secure the Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty for Nigel Farage's party.
England's second largest local authority by area, has been led by the since 2017. However, prior to this the council had changed hands numerous times.
Key local talking points including rail and bus services, housing and how council tax money is spent were pinpointed as important issues for candidates.
During the last local election the held on to the council with a narrow majority of 34 seats out of 67.
They won one seat by drawing lots due to two candidates having exactly the same number of votes. The Labour Party formed the main opposition.
In 2021 a number of Independents and members of smaller parties, such as the Liberal Democrats and Greens, also gained seats across the county.
Speaking before the election Glen Sanderson, the Conservative leader of the council, told the BBC that Northumberland "is flying".
How many candidates stood?Northumberland voters had a broad choice of candidates to vote for from those representing major political parties to local independents.
- Conservative Party - 67 candidates
- Labour Party - 62 candidates
- Liberal Democrats - 35 candidates
- Green Party - 28 candidates
- Independents and local groups - 40+ candidates.
