In 2017, the Ashfield Independents stood candidates in the Nottinghamshire County Council elections. They won five seats.[2]
A month later, Gail Turner ran for the party in the 2017 general election and gained 9.2% of the vote with 4,612 votes, receiving the second-highest vote share of an independent candidate in England; however, Labour retained the seat.[3]
The party won two by-elections to Ashfield District Council in 2017 and 2018 in the Hucknall North[4] and Sutton Junction & Harlow Wood wards.[5]
In 2019, the party stood candidates across Ashfield District Council and won 30 of the 35 seats, taking overall control of the authority.[6] The party also stood candidates in the neighbouring Broxtowe Borough Council, winning a single seat.[7] In addition the party won control of Annesley and Felley Parish Council.
In July 2019, party leader Jason Zadrozny announced that he would be a candidate for the Ashfield constituency when the next general election was held.[8] The election came in December 2019 and Zadrozny came second with 27.6% of the vote.
There are currently 35 councillors in the Ashfield District Council, 32 of whom are members of the Ashfield Independents.[12] Councillor Dave Hennigan was elected in 2019 as an Ashfield Independent, but was expelled in May 2020 after disagreements with the rest of the party.[13]
There was one councillor on Broxtowe Borough Council who is a member of the Ashfield Independents:[14]
Councillor
Ward
Elizabeth Williamson
Brinsley
Nottinghamshire County Council
There are 10 councillors on Nottinghamshire County Council who are members of the Ashfield Independents:[15]
All Ashfield Independent councillors on Nottinghamshire county council sit as part of the Independent Alliance, headed by Jason Zadrozny, of which there are 15 members. Jason Zadrozny is joint leader of the opposition on Nottinghamshire County Council.
Charges of fraud, election offences and misconduct in public office
In November 2022, Zadrozny and five other Ashfield Independent Councillors were arrested for fraud, election offences, money laundering and misconduct in public office.[16]
On 23 June 2023, Zadrozny was charged with 22 offences including 12 counts of fraud by false representation, five counts of money laundering, four counts of tax evasion, and possession of cocaine.[17]
The fraud by false representation charges relate to the alleged misuse of Nottinghamshire County Council funds between 14 February 2018 and 16 February 2021.[18]
As part of the same investigation, Tom Hollis was charged with two offences for allegedly failing to declare his disclosable pecuniary interest in a property, between 30 May 2019 and 10 September 2021.[18] A spokesperson for the Ashfield Independents said both Zadrozny and Hollis "absolutely deny" the charges and "look forward to clearing their name".[17] Hollis subsequently pleaded guilty.[19]
David Martin was amongst the Councillors arrested in November 2022. Whilst Martin was not charged in relation to the offences he was initially arrested for, he was charged with assaulting a police officer during his arrest. Martin chose to have his case heard in front of a jury at Crown Court. He initially pleaded not guilty at a pre-trial hearing, but changed his plea to guilty on 24 September 2024. [20][21]
In 2017, Zadrozny appeared before Nottingham Crown Court charged with child sex allegations. The Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence and the charges were dismissed.[22]
^Council, Nottinghamshire County. "Election Results 2017". Nottinghamshire County Council Elections 2017. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
