No City Takeover

16/12/2025

I don't want to get anyone's hopes up.

But, we have started to hear rumours that the Labour Government has been discussing, internally, ways they could U-Turn on local government organisation and scrap the whole thing.

13/12/2025

We want to update you on the latest developments of the complaints against 4 County Councillors:

Cllr Sam Smith (Con)
Cllr Neil Clarke (Con)
Cllr Steve Carr (Broxtowe Independent Group)
Cllr Teresa Cullen (Broxtowe Alliance)

You’ll remember that previously we said we stood shoulder to shoulder with councillors who have had the courage to speak out against the forced local government reorganisation sweeping across Nottinghamshire and particularly against the threat of Gedling being absorbed into Nottingham City Council.

We were especially vocal in championing and showing solidarity with the four councillors who were targeted after speaking up for their residents. These councillors were subjected to formal complaints lodged by a prominent member of the Labour group at Nottingham City Council, the deputy leader cowardly Ethan Radford.

Let’s be absolutely clear about what happened next.

All four councillors have now been cleared.
No wrongdoing.
No further action.

These complaints amounted to nothing more than an attack on free speech. A vexatious and intimidatory attempt to silence elected representatives because their views conflicted with his own. The aim was obvious to discourage councillors from standing up for their communities.

Not only was this decision completely misplaced but it has undoubtedly wasted significant amounts of time and public money. Worse still it will have placed an unnecessary emotional burden on the councillors involved people who were simply doing the job they were elected to do.

What is equally shocking, truly shocking, is that cowardly Ethan Radford is now doubling down on this bad decision. Despite the complaints being investigated and dismissed at the taxpayer’s expense he is once again threatening further action. The councillors have been cleared yet he presses on regardless.

This is throwing the dummy out of the pram, plain and simple.

Our advice to cowardly Ethan Radford is this.

Stop wasting time.
Stop wasting public money.
Stop intimidating other councillors.

And finally, get on with sorting out Nottingham City.

Local democracy matters. Free speech matters. And we will continue to stand with those who have the courage to defend their communities against a city takeover.

No City Takeover.

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/absurd-no-action-taken-against-10702118

29/11/2025

26/11/2025

Before the vote at Gedling Borough Council tonight.

Our message is clear.

No City Takeover.

26/11/2025

Interesting.

Councillor Wheeler is a Labour Gedling Borough Councillor. Like many of us he has many concerns about local government reorganisation.

Interesting that his position is so drastically in contrast to a Labour Councillor representing parts of Arnold at County Hall.

Cllr Wheeler's post is good and points out the current conflict Cllrs have. Option 1e is not ideal. But the message needs to be clear, Gedling residents do not want a City Takeover.

Thank you Cllr Wheeler.

We would also like to thank Cllr Wheeler for publicly sharing his thought process on the matter and his residents first approach.

26/11/2025

It’s Double-Whammy Day Here in Gedling 💥

There’s been a lot of noise about what may or may not happen in today’s Budget 📊. This page isn’t here to take sides on the rights and wrongs of national policy. But what has become increasingly clear through all the speculation is this:

Families, homeowners, and residents across Gedling are likely to find that today’s announcements mean more money coming out of their pockets 💸—whether through a whole smorgasbord of different taxes or through stealth measures like frozen income-tax thresholds. However it’s packaged, the end result is the same: residents paying more.

We’re not here to debate those national decisions.

But what Gedling residents will also notice is that all of this is landing at the same time as talks of local government reorganisation—specifically, the proposed merger between Nottingham City Council and Gedling Borough Council 🏛️.

Even in the councils’ own documentation, it’s been acknowledged that such a takeover would leave Gedling residents worse off. Local taxation would be raised to “level out” with the higher rates paid in the city 📈. That means people in Gedling paying more—not for services they chose, and not for decisions they had any democratic say over, but simply to absorb the financial consequences of a council they never voted for 🗳️.

No matter what someone’s politics are, when inflation is still running at nearly twice the Bank of England’s target 📉, this would be a hammer blow for local residents.

And that is why, once the dust settles on today’s Budget, we sincerely hope that when Labour councillors meet tonight to vote on the proposals for Gedling’s future, they choose to keep Gedling out of any takeover by Nottingham City Council 🚫🏙️.

We also urge them—especially the Leader of Gedling Borough Council, and our MP—to use their platform once the proposals are submitted to Government. They must lobby clearly, publicly, and unequivocally to keep Gedling from being absorbed into Nottingham City 📢.

25/11/2025

🚨 HYPOCRISY ALERT: You honestly couldn’t make this up. 🚨

Recently we highlighted how a Gedling Labour County Councillor dismissed the public consultation as being “driven by untruths on social media.” (Cllr Liz Clunie) And also said she had never put a leaflet out about local council reorganisation....

But today… we need to show you something extraordinary.
Because the very same councillor who now accuses residents of spreading “untruths” once delivered a leaflet across Gedling saying the following:

📌 Plans for a “super council” must be stopped
📌 Gedling would be asset-stripped — “selling off the family silver”
📌 Gedling taxpayers would be forced to bail out another council’s debts
📌 Our money would be spent elsewhere, not here in Gedling

And guess what?

All of that came from a leaflet promoted by Gedling Labour Party, and was an election material that got Cllr Clunie elected.

But now that residents themselves raise these concerns — the exact same concerns — suddenly we’re accused of being misled by social media?
❗ When Labour said it… it was “legitimate concern.”
❗ When residents say it… it’s “misinformation.”

Give me a break.

Let’s spell out the hypocrisy clearly:

This councillor believes it is NOT OK for Gedling taxpayers to bail out a Conservative-led council…

…but it’s apparently ABSOLUTELY FINE for our money to bail out Nottingham City Council — a council with one of the most severe financial crises in the country.

So when Labour claimed Gedling’s assets were at risk — fine.

When residents express the same fear — suddenly we’re conspiracy theorists.

When Labour warned our money would be used elsewhere — fine.

When residents point out the same risk — suddenly we're spreading “untruths.”

It’s one rule for them… and another for you.

Residents aren’t stupid.
Residents aren’t misled.
Residents aren’t puppets of social media.

Residents are simply doing what Gedling Labour told them to do:
❗ Take part in the consultation.
❗ Speak up.
❗ Raise concerns.

And now they don’t like what you had to say.

🔥 Why this matters — right now🔥

Tomorrow, Gedling Borough Council will vote on these reorganisation proposals.

We already know that some Labour councillors have shown an interest in a city takeover. Let’s remind them of something important:
📌 Many of them delivered this leaflet in their own wards.
📌 Many of them told residents these risks were real.
📌 Many of them warned about asset stripping, higher taxes, and Gedling money being spent elsewhere.

So tomorrow, we’ll be watching very closely.

If any councillor who campaigned on this leaflet now turns around and votes for the very thing they once warned residents about…

We’ll be putting it on full display.

🔍 Hypocrisy Watch begins now.

More updates tomorrow. Stay tuned. 👀

25/11/2025

Wednesday is shaping up to be quite the thrill ride.

Not only is Gedling Borough voting on its proposals for local government reorganisation. Remember the last time the proposals came in front of this Council some Labour Counncillors broke ranks with their Leader.

We’ve also got the small matter of the budget.

Truly, a blockbuster double-feature. Popcorn at the ready. 🍿😏

But before all that fun kicks off, we’ve got some developing updates from one of our previous posts.

***Stay tuned***

25/11/2025

Wednesday is shaping up to be quite the thrill ride.

Not only is Gedling Borough voting on its proposals for local government reorganisation. Remember the last time it came in front of this Council some Labour Councillors broke ranks with their leader. We’ve also got the small matter of the budget.

Truly, a blockbuster double-feature. Popcorn at the ready. 🍿😏

But before all that fun kicks off, we’ve got some developing updates from one of our previous posts.

***Stay tuned***

24/11/2025

🚨 This is why things don’t get done the way the voting public want them to get done. 🚨 This is what we are up against.

We have a councillor — who was politely emailed about the proposal to merge Gedling with Nottingham City — responding not with reflection, not with respect for residents’ views, but with a fictional conspiracy theory that conveniently dismisses the public’s concerns.

Let’s remember the timeline here, because it really matters.

On 30 July 2025, the Gedling Labour Council refused to hold a referendum on local government reorganisation. Their defence?
➡️ It would cost £500,000.
➡️ There would be an “open and transparent” public consultation instead.

Fair enough. They made their case.

But they also explicitly told the public that this consultation would be the democratic route — the legitimate space where residents could express their views on what happens to our area.

And what happened?

Residents took part. Thousands of them. Ordinary people, taking the only democratic route they’d been given.

Now, in her email to us, Cllr Liz Clunie claims that this consultation — the very process her party told us to trust — was basically illegitimate because people were supposedly “been driven by the many untruths which have been touted on social media"

Really?

This is now the line?

That the biggest democratic exercise Gedling has had on this issue… doesn’t count?

That people’s genuine concerns only exist because of online lies?

If that’s true, then who exactly is running this grand misinformation plot?
🇷🇺 The Russians?
📣 Nigel Farage?
🕵️ A shadowy Facebook group of local residents sharing memes?

Of course not.

Because the “misinformation conspiracy” doesn’t exist.

People don’t need to be brainwashed on social media to be concerned about being merged with a council that’s had well-documented issues. They can read budgets. They can see headlines. They can look around their communities.

And most importantly: they can think for themselves.

A councillor dismissing the public’s views because they don’t fit the desired narrative is exactly why people lose faith in politics. It’s disrespectful, it’s patronising, and it undermines the very democratic process her own party insisted we rely on.

We deserve better than conspiracy theories.
We deserve councillors who listen — not councillors who tell thousands of residents that their genuine concerns don’t count.

More to come. Stay tuned.

Cllr Liz Clunie's email response has been copied and pasted into the comments below for you to read.