Patience plea after Labour sinks to fifth in Warwickshire County Council's pecking order

Councillor Sarah Feeney (Benn) had targeted a push for power at Shire Hall but Labour returned just three councillors, half the seats the party managed during Conservative dominance in 2021.

Both of the big parties took a hammering from Reform UK which is now the biggest party but without a majority.

Labour did gain one seat, in part due to Reform and Conservatives splitting the vote in Rugby's Brownsover & Coton Park ward, allowing Councillor Senthil Karadiar to take the seat by less than 100 from Reform and 101 from the Tories.

The others to get in were group leader Cllr Feeney and her predecessor and deputy Councillor John Holland (Warwick West), both of whom enjoyed comfortable enough victories.

Labour lost four seats that it previously held, three of which were contested by incumbent councillors who were on the wrong end of tight calls.

Barbara Brown lost New Bilton & Overslade to Reform’s Dan Glover by less than 100, as did Caroline Phillips in Nuneaton Abbey where Mike Bannister took the hotseat.

Sarah Millar was ousted by Liberal Democrat Max Langer by 28 votes in Leamington Clarendon.

Cllr Feeney put the setbacks down to “a mix of things”, including people who did not turn out this time being replaced by first-time voters.

"Clearly, people aren’t happy with the government at the moment,” she admitted.

“They voted for change last July and some of them don’t feel that change is coming.

" Keir Starmer has said he has listened to that and that they will push forward with more change.

“The public want change, they want to feel the pound in their pocket.

"The government policies are there, they just haven’t filtered through to where it affects people which is their finances.

“I think something like 26 bills have been passed since July, things like renter’s reform, the employment rights bill, the lift in minimum wage, there are lots of things that are good for people in there but it just hasn’t filtered through yet.”

She went on to defend her party’s plan on national matters.

“Labour set out its stall last year and it hasn’t deviated from that,” she added.

“It was going to be a mission-led government, not about short-term fixes, it was about setting straight the public finances after 14 years of pretty disastrous Conservative government with lots of cuts and people feeling the pinch.

“We have to accept that it will take time to fix and clearly we haven’t got there yet. That is what people want and are hoping for.”

As for the future of Warwickshire County Council, Labour finds itself behind the Reform (22 seats), the Liberal Democrats (14) Conservatives (nine), the Green Party (seven).

Cllr Feeney acknowledged that put Labour low on the list of those to talk to about what comes next, confirming no conversations had taken place with Reform and that she was unaware of who may lead the newcomers.

“I think those discussions are all still in play,” she said.

“Comparartively, we are a tiny group now and others will probably have more of a say in these matters.

"We will wait to see who wants to talk to us but at the moment, we haven’t had those discussions.”

Asked whether she had any hunches as to what could emerge, Cllr Feeney replied: “The two obvious ones are a minority administration led by Reform and some form of coalition that isn’t with Reform.

"Who will form those and what they will be, I don’t know. I’m not in those discussions at the minute.”