Reform UK’s 14 Hertfordshire county councillors select Stevenage’s Dave Bainbridge as their group leader

Reform UK’s 14 Hertfordshire county councillors have elected an Old Stevenage member as their group leader at County Hall.

Retired ex-policeman and military man Doug Bainbridge was a Stevenage borough councillor for eight years. Cllr David Herring, member for Hemel Hempstead North West, is deputy leader.

Reform won 14 of the 78 seats on Hertfordshire County Council in the May 1 election to become the authority’s third largest group behind the Liberal Democrats, with 31 seats, and the Conservatives with 22. But fewer than 5,500 votes separated all three parties.

The populist party’s new representatives include Cllr Terry Smith, who won the Buntingford seat to become the East Herts district’s only Reform representative at County Hall.

Cllr Bainbridge said: “It’s an honour and a privilege to have been elected leader of the Reform UK group on Hertfordshire County Council.

“What we have achieved here is incredible. From a standing start we are now the third largest party on the council.

“The people of Hertfordshire have given this council a mandate for serious change, and we look forward to representing them as we hold this administration to account.”

The 31 Liberal Democrats – including Calvin Horner and Miriam Swainston in Bishop’s Stortford – are set to ally with five Green Party councillors, including four from Hertford and Ware.

The county council, where no party has overall control, also has 22 Conservatives, five Labour members and one Independent.