Derby’s former mayor Alan Graves has claimed Reform UK could be “taking over control” of the city council in the coming years. The Alvaston North councillor caused the ruling Labour group at Derby City Council to walk out in protest at him becoming the Mayor of Derby in May 2023.
Councillor Graves was the first Reform UK councillor to become a town or city mayor and he himself admitted at the time that his appointment was controversial after he narrowly beat a Labour councillor to the post. Councillor Graves handed over the reigns as Mayor of Derby in May 2024 and he now says he is enjoying being back in the “thrust” of politics.
The ex-mayor was one of several speakers on stage at Reform UK’s East Midlands conference in Leicester on Friday (January 3). Speaking to Derbyshire Live about Reform UK’s electoral chances locally, Councillor Graves said he was already confident about the Derby City Council elections due in 2027.
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“There are more and more people wanting to stand for us. There’s more and more people wanting to vote for us. I think we’ve got a good chance of taking over the control of the council”, Councillor Graves said.
The politician, who unsuccessfully stood as Reform UK’s East Midlands Mayor candidate in May 2024, shed tears when delivering his final speech as the Mayor of Derby. He criticised Derby’s Labour group as “desperately sad” over their walkout during his appointment, with ex-leader Baggy Shanker responding by saying: “I am glad he is no longer the mayor”.
Asked about his time as mayor, Councillor Graves said: “I really enjoyed it, but the trouble is it takes you away really from the main thrust of politics and I’m glad to get back into it. The other political parties showed themselves up, particularly the Labour Party.
“I’m not a bad person and most people that vote for me know that. When the Labour Party do these things, all they do is harm themselves and they’ve been harming themselves ever since.
“I’m a little bit concerned [about the state of the city council now]. Unfortunately, we’ve got a lot of new councillors that are cabinet members that don’t really have the experience that they ought to have and I think that makes a difference to how the council’s led”.
Councillor Graves also stood to be Derby South MP at the July 2024 general election, finishing in second place behind Baggy Shanker. Yet Councillor Graves believes Reform UK will become much more dominant at the next general election after a new poll found Labour could lose seven of its 11 Derbyshire seats if an election was held today. Derby’s former mayor added: “There are more and more people wanting to get common sense back into politics and Reform offers that in bucket loads”.