Reform UK's Freeston voted as leader of council

A Reform UK councillor has been elected as the new leader of North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC).

Oliver Freeston was voted in at a NELC Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at Grimsby Town Hall on Thursday.

Freeston chose his cabinet members shortly after the vote and confirmed his party would now run the council as a minority administration, taking over from the Conservatives.

Following the local elections, Reform are now the largest party on NELC with 14 seats.

Thirteen Reform councillors and four Independents voted for Freeston to become the leader, while nine Conservative members voted against.

Ten Labour councillors and three Liberal Democrat members abstained from voting.

The local election results on 8 May found that the Conservatives, who had run the council as a minority administration since 2024, had lost eight seats.

Labour suffered a four-seat loss, with the Independents losing one and the Liberal Democrats retaining the remaining seat.

Conservative group leader Philip Jackson said he had been left "absolutely devastated" by the results.

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