The new councillors whose parties are no longer on the fringe

Corby Cube is the headquarters for North Northamptonshire Council which, since May, has been run by Reform UK

In May Reform UK secured control of North Northamptonshire Council.

The party won 39 seats, and a month later gained another councillor in the postponed Higham Ferrers ward election, taking its numbers to 40.

The party took control from the Conservatives, who had been in power since 2005.

But they were not the only ones celebrating. The Green Party had a landmark performance, picking up eight seats, double Labour's tally, and emerging as the third-largest party on the council.

What prompted some of the new councillors from both parties to stand, and how do they see things?

'Hard-fought race'

Leon Gibbs said he had been disillusioned with politics for the past 14 years

Leon Gibbs, 35, represents Barton Seagrave and Burton Latimer for Reform UK.

He has lived in the ward for 11 years, having moved to the county with his wife from Luton, where he grew up.

He is of mixed heritage: two of his grandparents emigrated from Jamaica, and a third from South Africa.

He did not necessarily expect to win his seat. "It was a very hard-fought race in Burton Latimer and Barton Seagrave," he said.

"Up until the moment our names were called out, I never would have expected us to win. You just never know; you never know until the votes are counted."

For a short time, he was a member of Labour but said "that membership was very quickly cancelled shortly after Jeremy Corbyn became leader",

He decided to stand as a councillor for Reform UK earlier this year, prompted by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's announcement that there would not be a national inquiry into grooming gangs.

He said this was "one of the absolute biggest scandals that we've seen in this country for the past several decades", adding: "It's unconscionable to me that anybody would refuse to want to do a national inquiry for that topic."

The Prime Minister has since announced there will be a national inquiry into grooming gangs.

'Plain-speaking, being honest, being truthful'

Maurice Eglin said his husband prompted him to "do something about it" after hearing him shout at the TV and radio

Maurice Eglin, 40, represents the same ward for Reform UK. He has been a truck driver since leaving the Army about 12 years ago.

He went along to the first Reform UK meeting in Kettering in February - after he found he was shouting at the radio and TV about things he was hearing in the news, and his husband suggested he should do something about it.

It was at that initial meeting that he decided to stand. He said the party seemed to fit with his views.

"I believe in plain-speaking, being honest, being truthful, and if you can't get the job done, be honest with everyone and tell them a reason why.

"And Reform seemed to echo a lot of the sentiments I believe in, with no fluffing up or anything; just saying what you want to get done."

Eglin said he and his other ward councillors had a large presence online, which he thinks helped raise awareness and get them elected.

'People didn't feel represented'

Ben Jameson started campaigning for the Green Party in 2024

Ben Jameson, 30, represents Ise Ward for the Greens and was elected for the first time in May.

He joined the party in 2020 but only got involved with campaigning last spring ahead of the general election.

It was while door-knocking and speaking to people that he thought about standing as a candidate.

He said: "It didn't seem like they felt represented, whether that was from their current MP or current councillor, and on reflection after the campaign, I sort of thought 'Well, if I don't offer them that option, who can I expect to?'"

Jameson has also been elected as mayor of Kettering on the town council this year. The party have quite the monopoly there, winning 19 out of 20 seats.

'We won in areas we weren't campaigning in'

A number of factors led James Towns to join the Green Party six years ago.

James Towns, 58, represents Kettering Central ward and is deputy leader of the Green group on North Northamptonshire Council.

He joined the party in 2019, prompted by a few world events. "It was the Brexit decision and the move away from Europe," he said.

"I believe in more community and sort of working together with people and other countries, and also the increase in the issues around climate change and the lack of any real action."

He has been a town councillor in Kettering since 2021. However, it was his first time standing for the unitary authority.

He said he was not expecting the result. "I was a little bit surprised in our success," he said.

"We won in areas where we weren't campaigning, so the word about the work that Green councillors do and campaigners do in the areas, it's obviously spread across the town."