Hucknall Councillors speak exclusively to Nub News on last month's election victory

The Ashfield Independents swept to victory in last month's Nottinghamshire County Council elections, claiming all three Hucknall seats.

John Wilmott, Lee Waters and Dave Shaw each secured over 50% of the vote as all three seats, which had been Conservative, changed hands, bucking the general trend in the County.

All three newly elected Councillors, who already represent Hucknall on Ashfield District Council, spoke exclusively to Nub News.

Councillor Wilmott, victorious in Hucknall North Ward, is a veteran of local politics. The 78-year-old was first elected to represent Hucknall as a District Councillor in 1991 for the Labour Party. Five successful re-elections followed until he left the Party in 2015. He then won re-election to the District Council in 2019; his first victory as an Ashfield Independent. Further election success last month saw him reclaim the County Council seat that he had also previously held from 2013 to 2017.

On what motivates him to keep working in local politics after all these years, he said: "It's my life, I enjoy doing it, I get a kick out of helping somebody. I've been dealing with people's problems for thirty years as a councillor. I've always enjoyed it, if I've see somebody who's been in real trouble, get some help and a smile on their face it gives me everything. Obviously if I couldn't do the job I'd be seriously considering not doing it and retiring. Why should I retire when I'm as good as anybody?"

There was a lot of surprise when Councillor Wilmott left the Labour Party after a near 25 year association with them.

"It had changed dramatically and it didn't fit in with my idea of serving the people any longer. In 2015, I joined the Ashfield Independents which has been a very successful time, I've thoroughly enjoyed being part of it because I'm proud of what the Ashfield Independents have done.

"The biggest investment, was in the parks, hundreds and thousands of pounds have been spent on them. Titchfield Park and Nabbs Lane are unrecognisable from the 1990s with the money that's been spent and people have really appreciated it and used the facilities extremely well over that time."

Councillor Wilmott has wasted little time in outlining his priorities for Hucknall during this term with road maintenance and clamping down on litter at the top of his agenda.

He said: "I'm fighting at the moment with the Nottinghamshire County Council over the local roads and pavements. Obviously, I want at least £1million extra on our roads and highways in Hucknall and we have at least forced the Tory led Council to set up a panel to deal with the failure over the past four years; they've failed to do enough in clearing some of our desperately potholed roads. They've admitted they got it wrong and now we're going to try and help them put it right and I'm sure we can.

"I am the portfolio holder for all the regulatory services and I've been campaigning a lot just recently on waste. In the last two months 1063 fixed penalty notices have been taken for littering, for dog fouling and fly tipping. Also we've fined people for messy gardens so it's been a very successful time. People are very happy about this because we're trying to make Hucknall a place to be proud of. I'm over the moon with this situation, it's not the fact that we're fining people because we don't want to fine people, we want people to take care of the town and not drop litter or other things on the side of the pavement. I think people are appreciating now that the Ashfield Independents mean business."

Councillor Shaw, like Councillor Wilmott is an ex-Labour County and District Councillor and served the town for a decade between 2005 and 2015. However, his split from the Labour Party was less amicable than that of his colleague.

He said: "There had been political grumblings within the Labour party in Hucknall and it made it such a toxic environment to actually be a councillor in, it was impossible to work in the group that was so toxic."

On his decision to join the Ashfield Independents, he said: "They work as a team, they work together which is brilliant. We have our differences, don't get me wrong, but at the end of the day we work as a team for the better of Ashfield as a whole."

Asked about why he thought the Ashfield Independents have been so successful in such a short space of time, Councillor Shaw put it down to the work ethic in the party and understanding the issues that matter to the people of Hucknall.

"We worked our socks off. We went out and we understood what people wanted. And it's three things, three things in Hucknall West, three things in Hucknall South and three things in the North and they're all the same things: it's the roads, it's the doctors, it's schools, and we campaigned on that."

Councillor Waters was victorious in Hucknall Central Ward. He comes from a very different political background having been a member of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). He stood unsuccessfully in two General Elections for the party in the Gedling constituency in 2015 and 2017.

He said: "The reason I joined UKIP back then was I felt the big three parties were a bit of a clique and I wanted something different."

The decision to pursue politics was a personal challenge to get out and play an active part in community life. He has always been passionate about his local area and he acknowledges he is now in a position to really positively affect the lives of people living in Hucknall.

"I moved up to Nottinghamshire 15 years ago. I've been really keen to make sure we've got a nice area to live in. Then my son came along about six years ago, and I really wanted to try and look after the local community and make sure my son's got somewhere nice to live and to play.

"I really liked what the Ashfield Independents stood for. Ashfield Independents have all come from different political backgrounds or none at all and we've all come together and said we're fed up of national politics what really matters is sorting out the local area. I really do think the best decisions are made on a very local basis. We're just focusing on local issues without any of the national politics."

Councillor Waters also believes that the fact that all three Ashfield Independent candidates were successful reflects the town's acceptance of the party and want for change.

"I think it gives us a huge mandate. With an Independent you can vote for the best thing for Hucknall; essentially it's a free vote to do that. Also they've appreciated in the last two years where we've had District Councillors we've been able to do so much to turn the area around for example the Spring Clean and the investment in parks and the swimming pool and all those sorts of really positive messages. Our campaign, as well, all the way through, we were talking about positive things of what we've already achieved and how much more we'd be able to achieve if we get County Councillors in so I think it just really resonated with the public."