Reform UK success in Basingstoke and Hampshire elections

The breakthrough came on the same day the Conservatives lost overall control of Hampshire County Council for the first time in decades.

The party, which had just one borough councillor in Basingstoke and Deane before Friday, May 8, ended the day with three new Hampshire County Councillors and two new borough councillors - enough to formally constitute a group on the borough council for the first time.

Cllr Alan Stone (Image: Newsquest)

Alan Stone, a well-known local businessman who has lived and worked in Basingstoke since 1966, topped the poll in Basingstoke Central for Hampshire County Council with 1,535 votes, defeating the sitting Labour county councillor Abdel Ibrahim.

Cllr Stone said he was pleased to see "an insurgent party actually do well," adding that Reform had taken "a large chunk of vote across the whole of Basingstoke."

Cllr Stone, who will now serve on Hampshire County Council, said his guiding principle would be fairness. "My business, my life, everything has been about fairness, and fairness is really important, and doesn't seem to be following through with most councils at the moment," he said.

In the Loddon division, Cllr Paul Miller held on by just 85 votes, winning with 1,945 to Conservative Stephen Parker’s 1,857, at the end of what he described as a hard‑fought campaign.

Cllr Paul Miller (Image: Newsquest)

The result means Miller now sits as both a county councillor for Loddon and a Reform UK borough councillor for Chineham.

He said his priority would be to build a stronger relationship between the county and borough on behalf of residents. "It was right across two wards, and the margin was only 85 votes, so it was hard-fought," he said, adding that he wanted to improve how the two councils work together for his division.

At the borough level, Steve Trumm won South Ham with 864 votes in a ward where six candidates stood, defeating Labour’s Tony Jones on 560 and Independent Zena Lindsay on 406.

Cllr Steve Trumm (Image: Newsquest)

Cllr Trumm, a former police officer and train driver who is chair of Basingstoke and Deane Reform UK, described his win as "a tremendous honour and a tremendous responsibility."

He said his priorities would include scrutinising housing association SNG and its treatment of tenants, as well as challenging the lack of visible policing in the area.

"The number of times I've been told of various bits and pieces that are going on around the constituency makes me wonder why I can find out about this walking around, and we don't appear to have boys and girls in blue walking around," he said.

Christina Jordan, a former Brexit Party MEP who has lived in Basingstoke for more than 30 years, won Winklebury & Manydown for Reform UK with 602 votes, seeing off Conservative Mike Patchett on 315 and Labour’s Cait Fuller on 505 in a ward where housing pressure and the Manydown development have been dominant issues.

Cllr Christina Jordan (Image: Newsquest)

Cllr Jordan said her victory had been an emotional one. "We're a very new branch, but we came together so well, and this isn't because of me, this is because of the members, because of the volunteers and the voters," she said.

Her priorities include tackling the burden of continuous housing development on local infrastructure and championing the borough’s young people, students and elderly residents.

She said she would work with "anybody who wants to work with me" to make Basingstoke "a good place to live in, work in, and bring up a family."