Ashfield Independents

Ashfield Independents
The Ashfield Independents are a political party in the Ashfield District in Nottinghamshire, England.
Electoral history
In 2017, the Ashfield Independents stood candidates in the Nottinghamshire County Council elections. They won five seats.
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.
The party won two by-elections to Ashfield District Council in 2017 and 2018 in the Hucknall North and Sutton Junction & Harlow Wood wards.
In 2019 the party stood candidates across Ashfield District Council and won 30 of the 35 seats, taking overall control of the authority. The party also stood candidates in the neighbouring Broxtowe Borough Council, winning a single seat. 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. The election came in December 2019 and Zadrozny came second with 27.6% of the vote.
In the 2021 local elections across the UK, the party won an increased 11 seats on Nottinghamshire County Council, winning every seat in the Ashfield District.
in the 2023 Ashfield District Council election, the party increased their majority by two seats on the Ashfield District Council, taking a seat each off of the Tories and Labour, for a total seat count of 32.
Criminal charges
In 2015 Ashfield Independents leader Jason Zadrozny was arrested and charged with historic child sex offences. The case was subsequently discontinued.
In October 2022 Councillor Tom Hollis was sentenced following his conviction for harassment of his neighbours and careless driving. Part of the allegation involved making a false police complaint about a neighbour.
In November 2022 Zadrozny and five other Ashfield Independent Councillors were arrested for fraud, election offences, money laundering and misconduct in public office, and remain under investigation awaiting charging decisions.
On 17 May 2023, David Martin was charged for allegedly assaulting a police officer when he was arrested in November 2022.
On 23 June 2023, Zadrozny was charged with 22 offences including 12 counts of fraud by misrepresentation, five counts of money laundering, four counts of income tax evasion, and possession of a Class A drug.
The fraud by false representation charges relate to the alleged misuse of Nottinghamshire County Council funds between 14 February 2018 and 16 February 2021.
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. A spokesperson for the Ashfield Independents said both Zadrozny and Hollis "absolutely deny" the charges and "look forward to clearing their name".
Elected councillors
Ashfield District Council
There are currently 35 councillors in the Ashfield District Council, 32 of whom are members of the Ashfield Independents. 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.
Broxtowe Borough Council
There is one councillor on Broxtowe Borough Council who is a member of the Ashfield Independents:
Nottinghamshire County Council
There are 10 councillors on Nottinghamshire County Council who are members of the Ashfield Independents:
All Ashfield Independent councillors on Nottinghamshire county council sit as part of the Independent Alliance, headed by Jason Zadrozny, of which there is 15 members. Jason Zadrozny is joint leader of the opposition on Nottinghamshire County Council.
Westminster elections
See also
Ashfield District Council elections
Ashfield (UK Parliament constituency)
References
Locally based political parties in England
Ashfield District
Politics of Nottinghamshire