On December 11th 2025, a by-election took place in the Donne Close Ward for a seat on Rushden Town Council.
The Donne Close ward is extremely small and includes just 75 houses. It is roughly horseshoe shaped, and circles around a private lake.
With Reform UK having huge leads in every national opinion poll, it was expected that they would win the by-election comfortably. However, that was not the case.
The result was a miniature version of the 2024 General Election result for the Wellingborough and Rushden constituency. The right-of-centre vote was shared between Reform UK and the Conservatives, while Labour scooped up the left-of-centre vote and won.
Cameron Clarke Conservative 10
Zara Cunliffe Labour 17 Elected
Jonathan Di-Cosimo Carvetta Reform UK 7
There was one spoilt ballot paper.
The turnout was 24.8%, which sounds low, but is very high for a by-election for a Town Council seat. By contrast, in the recent by-election for Wellingborough Town Council, the turnout was under 10%.
Following this election, the political mix on Rushden Town Council is:
Conservatives 17
Labour 1
Reform UK 2
There is currently a further vacancy on Rushden Town Council, following the sad death of Cllr. Bob Tillyer.
