County council's deputy leader ousted in vote

The leading Reform UK group at Derbyshire County Council has ousted its deputy leader.

A secret ballot of the party's councillors this week saw Sutton councillor Rob Reaney fall short of the votes required.

Clay Cross and Tupton councillor Stephen Reed will now serve as deputy leader of the council.

Reaney had been in place since Reform took control of the county council from the Conservatives in May 2025.

Reed had put himself forward for the deputy role last year but ultimately lost out to Reaney at the group's AGM vote.

Reed is understood to have won the vote comfortably at the party's internal meeting this week. Senior figures said it was not an "aggressive challenge".

At the same meeting, the leader of the council Alan Graves retained his position in a vote.

Reed had been acting as the party's cabinet member for business services and had served as the party's media spokesperson for Derbyshire during the local election campaign last year.

The move comes ahead of a wider reshuffle of the party's leadership with a number of changes expected to the cabinet.

The changes will be decided by Graves in the coming weeks and formally signed off at a full council meeting later this month.

As the cabinet member for regeneration, Reaney had also been overseeing a planned revamp of Elvaston Castle and plans to convert Matlock county hall into a hotel.

Reaney and Reed have been approached for comment.

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