Father and son and two former Conservatives standing for Reform UK for Herts County Council seats in Bishop’s Stortford and Sawbridgeworth

Three qualified pilots and the son of a Polish wartime aviator aim to fly high for Reform UK in the Hertfordshire County Council elections in Hertford and Stortford.

The party has picked former East Herts district councillor Mike Casey, father and son Jonathan and Harrison Grose and constituency association chair John Burmicz to stand in Bishop’s Stortford and Sawbridgeworth.

Harrison Grose is Reform’s choice for the Bishop’s Stortford West seat currently held by the Conservatives.

The 23-year-old former Hockerill Anglo-European College student has a background in insurance and small business.

He said he was passionate about local issues and had a keen interest in transparency and fairness in public services.

His hobbies are aviation, collecting historic coins and banknotes, and both hosting and playing pub quizzes.

He said that he wanted more young people to shape the town’s future.

Mr Casey, a former Conservative, will contest the Bishop’s Stortford East seat currently occupied by the Liberal Democrats.

He is a retired chartered accountant who has lived in Bishop’s Stortford for over 40 years.

He served as a district councillor for All Saints ward from 2015 to 2019 and, during his East Herts term, he was a member of the council’s development management and scrutiny committees.

A qualified pilot, he has also been a school governor and said he was keen to apply his experience “to seek out better value for residents through a more efficient and effective council delivering on the people’s priorities”.

Jonathan Grose will contest the Bishop’s Stortford Rural seat held by the Conservatives.

He has lived and worked in and around Stortford for over 30 years. He is a former pilot for Titan Airways at Stansted Airport and a train driver for Greater Anglia.

He previously chaired the Bishop’s Stortford Business Connections networking group and now runs his own flight simulator business from his home in the town. He and Harrison share a light aircraft to pursue their love of flying.

Mr Grose senior said: “I’m not particularly tribal when it comes to political matters, but there seems little to choose right now between the traditional parties and the time feels right for a reset.

“Locally we need a commonsensical, practical approach, such as co-ordinating utility works to reduce the endless road works we see in our towns and villages across the county, less public money spent on woke and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) and a laser focus on spending plans to ensure maximum value for the taxpayer.”

Mr Burmicz, the son of an English mother and Polish father, is standing for Reform in Sawbridgeworth, which the Conservatives hold.

Mr Burmicz is a former Tory who was a town councillor for a decade, serving as mayor. He was also an East Herts district councillor, but said he became “so dismayed at the direction it was being led” that he quit the party.

Last July, he was Reform UK’s General Election candidate in the Hertford and Stortford constituency and took 15.4% of the votes, polling 8,325, to come third behind the winner, Labour’s Josh Dean, and Conservative Julie Marson.

Mr Burmicz, a former trustee of the Hailey Day Centre, trained as a chemist and runs his own company selling pharmaceutical testing equipment. He said he was very aware of the challenges faced by small businesses.

He said he had a strong sense of striving through adversity, standing up for free speech, duty and honour as handed down from his Polish forebears. His father fought in the Second World War, serving with the Polish 301 RAF squadron.

He said he was keen to apply his broad experience to “getting a county council that listens to residents and is effective and efficient in delivering to their needs”.

Hertford and Stortford Reform UK’s liaison officer Colin Woodward, a former Conservative town, district and county councillor who backed Mrs Marson in the General Election, has confirmed he will not be standing in the election on Thursday May 1.

He told the Indie: “I was asked to stand more than once and duly passed vetting. I greatly enjoyed county, especially as a deputy cabinet member.

“Having recruited quite a few Reform members and with 730 local members and still rising, I’m content to stand aside for now and help field a fresh team.”

East Herts Green Party, Hertford and Stortford Labour and Hertford and Stortford Conservatives have already announced their candidates. The Indie has invited the constituency’s Liberal Democrats to share their list.

Herts County Council has 78 members. The present split is 45 Conservatives, 24 Lib Dems, seven Labour, one Green and one Independent.