Nottinghamshire voters have aired their views on the state of local politics after the county’s last remaining Conservative MP defected to Reform UK.
Newark MP Robert Jenrick joined Nigel Farage’s party on Thursday, having been sacked by the Conservatives shortly before the news broke.
It means none of Nottinghamshire’s 11 sitting MPs are Conservative, just seven years since the party held eight seats locally following the 2019 General Election.
Target asked Nottingham voters what they thought about Jenrick’s defection to Reform and the party’s rise in the opinion polls. Reform UK currently hold a six point lead over Labour and the Tories, according to YouGov, with almost one in four people surveyed saying they would vote for Nigel Farage’s party if a general election was held tomorrow.
Reform is also currently leading Nottinghamshire County Council for the first time since winning a 2024 local election.
Outlining his reasons for defecting, Jenrick wrote on Facebook: “The problem is that the Conservative Party is too compromised by its failures in Government to hold this appalling Labour Government to account.
“And instead of apologising for their mistakes, learning their lessons and changing, the Tories are in denial and lashing out at anyone who speaks the truth.”
Chris Dancer, 48, from Wilford, who is managing director at A1 Pharmaceuticals, is concerned about how Reform’s right-wing policies on immigration will impact Nottingham’s multi-cultural community.
He said: “I think it is a concern because some of their policies are very right-wing.
“With Nottingham being such a diverse multi-cultural city I think that raises concerns for the future of the city in terms of the direction they may want to take it [if Reform were to win a city council or general election].”
Mr Dancer suggested Reform are filling a gap the two leading parties have created.
He said: “Historically you had two divergent political parties (Conservative and Labour) and actually they have come much closer together to try and appease people.
“Also, neither party have delivered on their manifesto promises.”
Chloe Lawless, 30, from Ruddington says Reform do not align with her principles, policies or way of viewing the world.
Despite Chloe’s differing views with local Reform voters, she suggested there may be people in the middle who feel ‘hard done by’ by the previous Conservative government and are not left-leaning naturally.
She said: “I think it’s sort of quite telling Conservatives had control of the government for 14 years [and in that time] people don’t feel they succeeded in improving their lives in any way.
“In order to recast their vote somewhere else they thought Labour was far too left-wing and if you’re not left-leaning naturally you go to the next best right wing and that is Reform.”
Miss Lawless added she feels Reform are filling a gap by “playing on people’s fears” and ‘exploiting’ that for votes.
Irvan, 60, from Mansfield says Reform are the new Conservatives.
He said: “I think it’s really depressing really, [with a Reform County Council] they are actually Tories at the end of the day.
“I think Reform are the new Conservative party, if you look most of their MPs are to the right or Conservative. They just had a couple of defections.”
“I don’t think this council [Reform] or any council should foster those kinds of beliefs”
Amir Hassein Saeidi
Student Amir Hassein Saeidi, 20, from Nottingham City said: “I am kind of worried about [the rise of Reform] because I believe Nottingham is a very excepting place.”
The 20-year-old says: “The rise of Reform in this council should be a concern for everybody.”
Mr Hassein Saeidi is concerned about how Reform’s policies and beliefs will influence peoples behaviour in Nottingham City and in the county.
He said: “I feel like those kind of beliefs are fostered because of specifically misinformation [spread online] that causes people to hate.
“And frankly I don’t think this council or any council should foster those kinds of beliefs.”
