Mansfield Independents, previously known as Mansfield Independent Forum,New name but still the same to people first in Mansfield
''Chad'', Mansfield local newspaper, 5 September 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2020 was a local political party in the local government district of

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, England. It was officially registered in 2005, having already successfully campaigned for the election of

Tony Egginton Tony Egginton (born 1951) was the first directly elected Mayor of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, England. He was elected to the position on 17 October 2002, beating Labour's Lorna Carter by 588 votes, ending 30 years of Labour control. Egginto ...

Mayor of Mansfield The Mayor of Mansfield is the directly elected executive mayor of the district of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, England. A new appointment was created from 2002 following moves made by a Mansfield-based businessman to change the governance of M ...

two years earlier. Egginton had stood for election after being convinced to do so by the leader of the pro-Mayoralty campaign, Stewart Rickersey. At the May 2023 Mansfield local elections, four MI members were successful. On 25 October 2024, three long standing members defected to

Reform UK Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has been Leader of Reform UK and Richard Tice deputy leader since 2024. It has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one membe ...

, marking a new political group on the council. The party was de-registered in May 2025.

History

The directly elected Mayor of Mansfield was created following moves made by Mansfield-based businessman Stuart Rickersey to change the governance of Mansfield through a public referendum. Local newsagent

was encouraged to stand as an independent candidate in the ensuing election, and was elected to the position on 17 October 2002. Following Egginton's successful election as Mayor, Rickersey then recruited many ward councillor-candidates to challenge Labour's traditional domination at the May 2003 local elections, winning control of the council with 25 seats. Most of the newly elected councillors were new and inexperienced. Egginton formed his Cabinet mostly of MIF members including Rickersey as Portfolio Holder for Corporate Issues. The party was officially registered with the electoral commission on 14 July 2005, formalising the existence of a party that had unofficially existed since Egginton's election. Fellow Mansfield Independent Kate Allsop was elected as Executive Mayor to succeed Egginton following his retirement in 2015. In 2015 Councillor Sid Walker of the Mansfield Independents, then sitting as a UKIP councillor, was investigated by Mansfield District Council for posting racist material on Facebook and calling a constituent a "left wing bitch". In September 2019 the party was renamed to the Mansfield Independents. The party was formally dissolved and de-registered with the Electoral Commission in May 2025.

Election results

The Mansfield Independent Forum has contested elections since Tony Egginton's election in 2002, first informally as an alliance of independent councillors in 2003 and then formally as a registered UK political party from 2005 onwards.

Mayoral elections

served as Mayor of Mansfield from 2002 until his retirement in 2015. He was succeeded by Kate Allsop, also of the Mansfield Independents.

District Council elections

Mansfield Independent Forum councillors held a majority on

Mansfield District Council Mansfield District is a local government district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is named after the town of Mansfield, where the council is based. The district also contains Mansfield Woodhouse (which forms part of the Mansfield urban area) and ...

from 2003 to 2011. The party lost control of the council to the Labour Party in 2011 before regaining control in 2015. In the 2023 local elections, the Mansfield Independents suffered an almost total wipe-out, losing all but four of their seats on Mansfield District Council, and finishing in third place in the Mayoral Election.

County Council elections

Mansfield Independent Forum has been represented on

Nottinghamshire County Council Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the non-metropolitan county excludes the city of ...

since

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. Following the 2017 election the party became the junior partner in a governing coalition with the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

UK Parliament elections

The party fielded a candidate in the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

election, coming third behind Labour and the

. In the 2010 general election they were reduced to fourth place behind the Liberal Democrats. The party did not field official candidates in the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

elections.

References

{{Reflist, 2 2005 establishments in England Locally based political parties in England Political parties established in 2005