The publisher of the Nottingham Post has criticised Reform UK’s Nottinghamshire county council leader, Mick Barton, for an “increasingly Trumpian approach” to the media. Barton has prevented the 150-year-old newspaper and its website, Nottinghamshire Live, from speaking to him or receiving press releases and updates.
David Higgerson, chief content officer for Reach, which owns the Nottingham Post and the Daily Mirror, said the ban was part of a worrying national trend. “When journalists are blocked from doing their job, it’s not just a concern for the media – it’s a concern for the public,” he said. “Over the last few years we’ve seen this increasingly Trumpian approach creep in – and not only from Reform politicians – where legitimate questions are met with hostility or silence.”
Other local authorities have faced similar accusations. In London, a BBC-funded local democracy reporter said he was effectively barred by Conservative-run Hillingdon council over alleged “political bias” in his reporting. The council denied barring him but said it had raised concerns about balance. In Wales, Nation.Cymru news editor Emily Price reported that engaging with Reform UK politicians had become “more and more arduous”, including threats of legal action.
Repeated attempts to resolve the Nottingham Post ban have failed. Last week, Reform councillors blocked a motion to debate the paper’s treatment at a council meeting. Higgerson said: “Nottinghamshire Live is by far the best-read news source in Nottinghamshire… but it is worrying that Reform have not yet found a way to move forward from this ban.”
The Nottingham Post’s editor, Natalie Fahy, said the saga served as a warning about how a future Reform government might treat the media. In an article published on Friday, she said she was “left speechless” by the councillors’ decision to block the debate, adding: “I see now how politicians think they can play the system to avoid a discussion on something that could be embarrassing for them.”
