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East Midlands: In Focus – cross party relationships are a navigator’s best friend in Derbyshire

Derbyshire’s future growth plans include new homes, improved transport connectivity and new employment opportunities, delivered through regeneration, and further development of its advanced manufacturing capabilities. As recent national political re-routing is reflected in Derbyshire, our Strategic Communications team considers how the county’s political shade changes might impact the facilitation of that growth.

Watch the video below for an overview of the opportunities and issues facing the region, and the plans to promote growth.

The past decade has brought significant political upheaval across the UK and Derbyshire has been no exception. As the winds of national politics continue to shift, the voters of Derbyshire blow with them. After 59% of the county’s residents voted to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum, Derbyshire joined the national trend of leave-voting areas and turned a darker shade of Conservative blue.

At the 2010 general election, the Conservatives won six of Derbyshire’s 11 parliamentary constituencies with Labour holding the other five. However, following the 2019 general election, the Conservatives sent nine Derbyshire MPs to Westminster, and Labour just two. Derbyshire County Council has a tendency to swing: Labour-controlled in 2005, Tory in 2009, back to Labour in 2013, before turning Conservative in 2017, and staying that way up to now. But for many national pundits Derbyshire’s Westminster constituencies are seen as part of the former ‘Red Wall’. 

The county stretches much further north than most people appreciate, with Glossop and High Peak on the eastern edges of Greater Manchester. The Conservatives won High Peak from Labour at the 2019 general election, but it had only been held by Labour for two years; and although it was red from Blair through to Brown, it has spent most of its 137-year history being represented by a Conservative.

This chopping and changing shows how “winnable” Derbyshire is, while bringing with it a perception of sea change which influences national trends. Therefore, as a prime battleground for England’s two main political parties, Derbyshire stands to benefit from a renewed attention amongst the Westminster audience. Four of Derbyshire’s 11 parliamentary constituencies are considered “marginal”, which means the sitting MP has a majority of 5,000 votes or fewer. Both the Conservatives and Labour are keen to demonstrate to voters that Derbyshire is a priority. Both have promised to fully-electrify the Midland Main Line so the people of Chesterfield and Derby can get to and from London faster, greener and more reliably (although both have been promising this for decades). Derbyshire has also been promised its slice of the Levelling Up pie, benefiting from the planned East Midlands Freeport and the emerging Integrated Rail Plan, which includes direct HS2 trains to Derby, as well as Chesterfield. 

Recent electoral success is one of the main reasons that the current Conservative Government in Westminster is ready to cede more power to Derbyshire and the East Midlands. This is possibly the biggest opportunity associated with Derbyshire’s moment in the national political limelight – an invitation to negotiate a new combined authority following the publication of the Levelling Up and Regeneration White Paper earlier this year. Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council have teamed up with Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottingham City Council, to bid for an East Midlands Combined Authority (EMCA). This would not abolish or merge any of the existing local authorities but add a new layer of regional government with powers devolved from Westminster, covering policy areas which benefit from cross-boundary co-operation, just as has been the case for other combined authority mayors. These include transport and infrastructure, business growth, inward investment, employment and skills and, crucially, increased planning and regeneration powers. In the case of planning, cross-border co-operation already exists between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, such as Erewash’s inclusion in the Greater Nottingham Housing Market Area (HMA) and Joint Planning Advisory Board (JPAB), as well as Bassetlaw’s inclusion in North Derbyshire’s HMA.

However, increased political competition in the county comes with drawbacks for getting stuff done. Small margins in parliamentary election results are reflected in local authority elections. Out of Derbyshire’s nine local authorities, four are in no overall control and Derbyshire Dales District Council is held by the Conservatives with a majority of just one councillor. Both Bolsover District Council and South Derbyshire District Council are led by Labour groups supported by independents, and High Peak Borough Council is led by a minority Labour group. Derby City Council is led by a minority Conservative group outnumbered by an opposition of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Reform Party councillors. Predictions are now very difficult to make with any confidence. This was best demonstrated when the Conservatives gained North East Derbyshire District Council in May 2019 in a landslide, having never won the authority before. 

A condition for transferring significant powers to local government is to install a directly elected mayor to lead the EMCA. It is an open secret in local political circles that the role is coveted by Cllr Ben Bradley MP, Conservative MP for Mansfield and leader of Nottinghamshire County Council. However, the window of confidence for him to walk into the position is framed by Derbyshire’s electoral unpredictability and narrowing as the Conservative Party changes leadership in Westminster. There is no guarantee he would win the position. The local gains made by the Conservatives in the last decade have stalled, the Liberal Democrats are resurgent, the Greens are widening their appeal and Labour is emboldened.

The key to navigating the choppy waters of Derbyshire politics may become less about trying to pick the best boat, and more about fostering the cross-party relationships which guarantee you a friend in every port.

To find out more about opportunities in Derbyshire please contact David Blackadder-Weinstein or Jessica Herritty.

Click here to learn more about planning and development plans across the East Midlands counties. 

24 August 2022