Nottinghamshire County Council's Reform UK administration has barred its councillors from engaging with the Nottingham Post and its online outlet, Nottinghamshire Live, in an unprecedented move that the paper's editor has described as a 'massive attack on local democracy'. The ban, imposed by council leader Mick Barton, follows a story about local government restructuring that the council claims was misrepresented.
Natalie Fahy, editor of the Nottingham Post and Nottinghamshire Live, warned that the decision signals how Reform might treat the press if it forms the next government. 'It's a massive attack on local democracy,' she said. 'This is a worrying sign of potentially things to come if Reform wins the next election. What you're seeing here in Nottinghamshire is probably a microcosm of how it will be across the whole of the UK if Nigel Farage becomes prime minister.'
The Liberal Democrats have written to Nigel Farage urging him to intervene, calling the ban 'dangerous and chilling' and suggesting it may breach the local government code of conduct, which requires councillors to submit to scrutiny. Labour MP Michael Payne accused Reform of 'rank hypocrisy' over its claims to support free speech and transparency.
Under the ban, 41 Reform councillors will not speak to Nottinghamshire Live or local democracy reporters funded by the BBC. Press officers have been instructed to remove the outlet from council media distribution lists, except in emergencies such as flooding. Reform's Mansfield branch stated the party will not engage with any media outlet it considers to be 'consistently misrepresenting' its policies, citing the need to protect 'the credibility of our governance'.
The row escalated after a viral clip in June showed a Reform councillor struggling with their brief. Relations had since improved, but Barton cut access after objecting to a story about internal disagreements within the Reform group over local government reorganisation. Natalie Fahy noted that the council had previously engaged with the paper despite disagreements, and she urged the council to reconsider its stance.
