Reform names leader of Nottinghamshire County Council

Mick Barton has been named as the new leader of Nottinghamshire County Council.

He was chosen from among Reform UK councillors at a group meeting on Monday.

It follows the party taking control of the authority at the local elections.

Barton has been a councillor on Mansfield District Council since 2003 but was elected to the county council for the first time earlier this month.

He said it was a "massive privilege and a pleasure" to be elected leader and added that his party won control of the authority by "hard work campaigning and the message we got out there".

"I think people had had enough of the two main parties promising stuff and not delivering it.

"We're the new boys on the block, so we've got to deliver now, that's our toughest job.

"We've been given a mandate by the majority of people of Nottinghamshire... we've got to make sure we deliver," Barton added.

He comfortably won a seat in the Mansfield East division, taking it from the Conservatives.

He was previously part of the Mansfield Independents on the district council, but joined Reform along with two colleagues last year.

He is set to be formally confirmed as leader of the county council at a full council meeting next week.

Two by-elections are also set to be contested in the coming weeks.

Voting for the Mansfield North division was postponed after the death of candidate, Karen Seymour.

A further by-election will take place in Newark West after the successful Reform candidate stepped down a matter of days after being elected.

Follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.