LDRS Conference and Awards 2025

Brighton-based Sarah Booker-Lewis was named the 2025 Local Democracy Reporter of the Year at a two-day annual conference to celebrate the BBC-funded service.

Sarah – who joined the Local Democracy Reporting Service just four months after its launch in 2018 – took the top honour in an event that celebrated the publication of the service’s 500,000th public value story earlier this year.

Sarah, who is based at independent news title Brighton & Hove News, impressed category judge Owen Meredith with a selection of entries that “stood out for their story-telling in a compelling fashion as a result of highly-developed and trusted community relationships”.

Mr Meredith, CEO of the News Media Association, added that Sarah’s journalism “led the agenda and demonstrated a determination to pursue the truth”.

More than 150 Local Democracy Reporters and industry colleagues attended the conference at Media City, Salford, on November 13 and 14.

Sarah was recognised for a range of work that included bed bug infestations at a council tower block, a council employee threatened with eviction over rent arrears despite being owed months of back pay from the authority, and the revelation that council contractors were continuing to spray weedkiller in streets that had opted out of the service.

The full list of winners at the event was:

• Best Use of Freedom of Information:
  Winner: Nick Clark, Social Spider
  Runners-up: Nigel Slater, Reach Plc, and Christopher Day, Iliffe Media
  Award judged by Tim Burke, BBC Politics England Editor
• Best Use of Social Media:
  Winner: Ethan Davies, Reach Plc
  Runners-up: Declan Carey, Reach Plc, and Nathaniel Lawson, Newsquest
  Award judged by by Miriam Phillips, journalism consultant and educator
• The George Makin Award – presented in memory of former LDR George Makin:
  Winner: Nathaniel Lawson, Newsquest
  Runners-up: Harry Harrison, Iconic Media Group, and Daniel Esson, KM Media Group
  Award judged by Joanne Forbes, Chief Executive, NCTJ
• Local Democracy Story of the Year:
  Winner: PJ Lynch, Reach Plc
  Runners-up: Charlotte Hall and Lee Trewhela, both Reach Plc
  Award judged by Matthew Barraclough, Executive Lead, BBC Local
• Local Democracy Reporter of the Year:
  Winner: Sarah Booker-Lewis, Brighton & Hove News
  Runners-up: Charlotte Hall and PJ Lynch, both Reach Plc
  Award judged by Owen Meredith, CEO of the News Media Association

Speakers at the conference included Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and former West Midlands Mayor Sir Andy Street. They were both quizzed by BBC Political Correspondent Alex Forsyth on a range of topics including local government reorganisation, devolution, and the role of metro mayors.

Other speakers included Steve Nowottny and Charlotte Green of Full Fact, Anna Khoo of the Office for National Statistics, online safety editor Dr Rebecca Whittington, and academic and journalist Tony Travers of the London School of Economics.

Meanwhile, Robert Thompson, Director of Production for BBC Local, joined a ‘fireside’ talk to discuss a range of subjects including the future direction of the LDRS, the forthcoming BBC Charter process, and the role of the media in the current political climate.

Jason Gibbins, the BBC’s Senior News Editor for the Local Democracy Reporting Service, said: “It remains our pleasure to welcome Local Democracy Reporters to the annual conference and awards to celebrate their work. It’s work that is of huge public value and that matters deeply to people in their local communities.

“It was an additional pleasure this year to be able to celebrate the service reaching the remarkable milestone of publishing 500,000 stories since launch in 2018.

“The fact that this year’s Local Democracy Reporter of the Year joined the service just four months after its launch highlights the dedication reporters offer to the scheme.

“We offer our thanks and congratulations not only to Sarah, but to all others who have helped develop the scheme into such an important part of the UK’s media and political landscape.”