Mason Moore | Hinckley Reporter | 6 May 2022
THE CONSERVATIVE Party have managed to take full control of Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council (NBBC), after winning at yesterday’s elections.
A local election took place in Nuneaton and Bedworth until 10pm yesterday evening (Thursday, 5 May), which seen 17 of the 34 Borough Council’s seats up for grabs.
Seven seats in Nuneaton that were up for grabs are held by Tories – Attleborough, Arbury, Barpool, Bulkington, Galley Common, St. Nicolas and Whitestone. And, they were successful in gaining the Barpool seat from the rivalling Labour Party.
This means that the Tories now have 27 of 34 councillors in the chamber.
Many who voted shown their support for Labour, which seen them continue to hold four wards in the area – Abbey, Camp Hill, Wembrook and Kingswood. But, they did not manage to win any new seats this time round.
In what came as a surprise to many, Weddington was flipped from a Conservative seat to a Green Party seat, ultimately marking the only seat that the Tories have lost.
Meanwhile, in the nearby town of Bedworth, all five of their wards retained its pre-existing Tory control, as no seats were flipped to the opposition.
MP congratulates Conservatives
In a statement posted to Twitter, Marcus Jones, Nuneaton’s Member of Parliament, congratulated local Conservatives in taking full control of the Borough Council.
He said: “What a fantastic result for Conservatives in Nuneaton & Bedworth. Thoroughly deserved by our hard working local candidates.
“Now the work continues to Transform Nuneaton!”
Labour ‘not wiped out’ – and thank voters
A spokesperson for Nuneaton Labour took to Facebook to thank all Labour voters for voting – and promised the Conservative-led Council will be “held to account”.
They said: “Thank you to everyone who voted Labour today. Congratulations to Chris Watkins (Kingswood), Tracy Sheppard (Wembrook), Neil Phillips (Abbey) and Emma Shiers (Camp Hill) for being elected tonight.
“The hard work starts now! Many Conservatives were predicting that Labour would be wiped out in Nuneaton tonight. Instead, Labour has been elected in 4/11 seats here.
“We will hold this Tory council to account and not let them ride roughshod over the people of Nuneaton and Bedworth.”
Keith Kondakor ‘very happy’ at Green’s win
Coun. Keith Kondakor, who has been serving as the Borough Council’s Green councillor for many years, commented on Mike Wright’s surprising shock election on to the Council with him in the area, after Wright was victorious in Weddington.
Exclusively speaking to the Hinckley Free Press, Mr. Kondakor said: “I am very happy that Mike Wright has been elected as a fellow green councillor for Weddington.
“The ward is now 25 per cent bigger due to additional housing and there is so much infrastructure and planning matters to still be sorted out.
“Having two councillors allow us to propose and second amendments in council meetings, ask more questions and chase up more case work. Across the borough, The Green Party has taken a record 14 per cent of the vote.
“We must give a massive thanks for this support and work hard to grow.
He concluded: “With a boundary review going to expand the number of council wards in time for 2024 elections, we urgently need more people join our party or support us in our work for getting more green councillors across the borough.”