Nigel Farage had said before the election his party had a “real chance” of taking the South East London council
The Conservatives have maintained strong control of Bexley Council, only losing one seat in Thursday’s election. The Tories will extend their 20-year reign over the South East London authority with 29 councillors on the 45-seat council.
Reform UK has had seven councillors elected to the council for the first time, but it won’t be quite the result they hoped after Nigel Farage recently said his party had a “real chance” of winning Bexley.
However, despite the difference in seats, the count was often a tightly fought race between Reform and the Conservatives in terms of votes. However, the Tories came out on top in most wards leaving Reform with fewer than ten councillors.
See our live blog covering all the London election results as they come in.
Reform does still have a chance of becoming the opposition party in Bexley as there is one final ward left in the borough yet to return a result. The votes were too close to call in the two-seat Slade Green & Northend ward between Labour and Reform, and so a recount is scheduled later today at 5pm.
Labour in Bexley have matched the nationwide trend and lost seats, with their number of councillors being reduced from 12 down to seven. However, they do have a chance to win two more seats in Slade Green & Northend.
See the full Bexley result in our widget (story continued below)
The Conservative leader David Leaf said it was “business as usual” in Bexley following his election win. He promised to be back in his office later today to start implementing the promises made in their manifesto.
Cllr Leaf said the win was “really emotional and moving” as he felt it was a privilege to once again serve the residents of Bexley.
He said: “We are obviously delighted that our residents have put their trust back in us again. It is bittersweet if I’m honest because some good, hardworking councillors lost their seats sadly. But we are pleased the residents put their trust in us.
“They looked over the border and saw the chaos, broken promises, deceit and lies that Reform offer in local government in Kent and they didn’t want it here.”
When asked how he felt about Reform now having a presence on Bexley Council, Cllr Leaf said: “We get on with the job of representing our residents. They’re there to serve Nigel Farage’s ego.
“Like with anyone, we have to wait and see what they do on the council, but based on what they’ve been doing with their campaign, I don’t think they’ve got much to offer.”
The council leader also wanted to thank all those that had been involved in the Conservative campaign. He said: “We all worked incredibly hard, so it’s a massive team effort. I’m incredibly proud of everyone and the credit is spread to so many people.”
The chairman of Reform UK Bexley, Eamonn Delaney, did not get elected in Crook Log, but he did say his party was pleased with the results.
Mr Delaney said: “Our mission was to take seats away from both the Tories and Labour, and in that endeavour we have fully achieved our goal. Our vote share was also greater than forecast due to a fabulous campaign.
“Overall the margins were paper thin and on another day we could have easily had eight or nine more seats. In some cases we lost some seats by only two votes.”
Mr Delaney was critical of the Slade Green & Northend recount. According to the Reform Bexley chairman, the “dead heat” ward was so close after two counts that Bexley’s returning officer advised everyone a name could be drawn out of the hat but the Tories and Labour refused.
He accused the two parties of “putting the taxpayers of Bexley to the unnecessary cost of a third count”.
Mr Delaney did thank all the staff at Bexley Council including the returning officer Paul Thorogood and head of electoral services Laurel Brewster for their “amazing efforts and professionalism during this election”.
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