North Northamptonshire Council

North Northamptonshire Council
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Andy Sims,
Reform UK
since 16 July 2026[1]
Martin Griffiths,
Reform UK
since 22 May 2025[2]
Adele Wylie
since 27 January 2024[3]
Structure
Graph of the party split among 68 seats.
Political groups
Administration (39)
    Reform (39)
Other parties (29)
    Conservative (11)
    Green (8)
    Labour (4)
    Liberal Democrats (1)
    Restore (1)
    Independent (4)
Elections
Last election
1 May 2025
Next election
3 May 2029
Meeting place

The Cube, George Street, Corby, NN17 1QG[4]
Website
www.northnorthants.gov.uk

North Northamptonshire Council is the local authority for North Northamptonshire, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England. It is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. The council is based at The Cube in Corby. It has been under Reform UK majority control since the 2025 election.

History

The council was created in 2021. It took over the functions of the four abolished district councils of Corby Borough Council, East Northamptonshire District Council, Kettering Borough Council, and Wellingborough Borough Council, as well as the functions of the abolished Northamptonshire County Council within the area.[5]

Governance

Corby, the administrative centre and largest settlement in North Northamptonshire

Legally, North Northamptonshire Council is a district council which also performs the functions of a county council, making it a unitary authority.[5] Some county-wide functions, such as the Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, are overseen by joint committees of North Northamptonshire Council and West Northamptonshire Council, the other unitary authority in the county.[6]

The whole area is also covered by civil parishes, which form a second tier of local government.[7]

Political control

Since the 2025 election, Reform UK have held a majority of the seats on the council:[8]

Party in controlYears
Conservative2021–2025
Reform2025–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council from its first meeting following its creation in 2021 have been:

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Jason Smithers[9]Conservative26 May 2021May 2025
Martin Griffiths[2]Reform22 May 2025

Russell Roberts, outgoing leader of the old Kettering Borough Council, had served as leader of the shadow authority set up to oversee the transition to the new arrangements.[10]

Composition

Following the 2025 election and subsequent changes up to July 2026, the composition of the council was:[11][12]

Party Councillors
Reform39
Conservative11
Green8
Labour4
Liberal Democrats1
Restore1
Independent4
Total 68

The next election is due in 2029.[12]

Elections

An election for a shadow authority were due to be held on Thursday 7 May 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The election was instead held on 6 May 2021 and the Conservatives won a majority of seats. The council originally comprised 78 councillors elected across 26 wards. Ward boundaries were redrawn for the 2025 election, reducing the number of councillors to 68.[13]

Premises

Kettering Municipal Offices, council's area office in Kettering

The council inherited four sets of offices from the predecessor authorities, notably including the Corby Cube, the Kettering Municipal Offices, Swanspool House in Wellingborough, and the old East Northamptonshire District Council offices on Cedar Drive in Thrapston. The Corby Cube was chosen as the main meeting place.[4] The other buildings serve as area offices.[4][14] Some consolidation of the council's offices has been taking place since the council came into being.[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bagley, Alison (17 July 2026). "Replacement chairman of North Northamptonshire Council elected into office". Northamptonshire Telegraph. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Council minutes, 22 May 2025" (PDF). North Northamptonshire Council. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  3. ↑ "Council appoints new Chief Executive". North Northamptonshire Council. 8 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "Corby Cube set to become North Northamptonshire Council headquarters". Northamptonshire Telegraph. 23 September 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  5. 1 2 "The Northamptonshire (Structural Changes) Order 2020", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2020/156, retrieved 14 July 2024
  6. ↑ "Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel". West Northamptonshire Council. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  7. ↑ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  8. ↑ Coffey, Laura (23 May 2025). "Reform UK formally votes in new council leader". BBC News. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  9. ↑ Heath, Martin (19 February 2025). "Council leader to step down at next election". BBC News. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  10. ↑ Ward, Sarah (16 April 2020). "Government appoints Kettering Council leader to head up new unitary council". Northamptonshire Telegraph. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  11. ↑ Coffey, Laura (9 February 2026). "Northamptonshire Conservative Jennie Bone defects to Reform UK". BBC News.
  12. 1 2 "North Northamptonshire". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
  13. ↑ "The North Northamptonshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2024", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2024/157, retrieved 14 July 2024
  14. ↑ "Visiting the council and our addresses". North Northamptonshire Council. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  15. ↑ Cronin, Kate (26 March 2024). "North Northamptonshire Council plans to exit half of its offices including Swanspool House in Wellingborough and Sheerness House in Kettering". Northamptonshire Telegraph. Retrieved 13 June 2025.