“Fighting to keep my country free. Ex Parliamentary candidate Bradford South. Councillor. Ambassador for my home town Bradford.”
We went on a journey to discover more about Stephen Place, Bradford Council’s new leader. Here’s what we found out.
For a while, Stephen Place was content with sharing his two cents on social media. He had no qualms about what he posted. This was who he was, what he thought and how he saw the world. Not that it mattered (basic civility notwithstanding). He wasn’t worth paying attention to. He didn’t have anything interesting to say. He was just another unremarkable and predictable voice on the online right drowned out by the feverish clamour of a “virtually lawless public square” overflowing with people clamouring to be heard and seen in an AI-powered “golden age of stupidity”.
But that all changed on Thursday 7 May when he was successfully elected as one of three councillors for Royds at the historic all-out local elections that took place across the district of Bradford, resulting in his party, Reform UK, securing the lion’s share of seats on the council at the expense of Labour, who were humiliated. Though, it has to be said, not enough for a majority.
Place, who had existed in relative obscurity on the fringes of political life in Yorkshire – except, perhaps, for local politicos in the know – was now no longer just another opinionated member of the public. He was on the other side, a democratically elected representative who belonged to the biggest party on the council. A party that was now within touching distance of getting its hands on the keys to City Hall.
From that point on his stock rose quickly. Out of the 29 Reform UK councillors elected in early May, it was Place who was announced as the party’s group leader for Bradford. And then, after two rounds of voting that were far from decisive, he was eventually appointed as leader of the council on Tuesday 19 May.
He now finds himself at the heart of local politics across the district and, via the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), the wider region, too, with the power and influence that comes with it (albeit with what may prove to be the very frustrating limitations of running a minority administration). It’s a far cry from his more recent years as an armchair critic who few people treated seriously.
Now everyone does (well, within the confines of the office that is). For someone who has long harboured political ambitions, this newfound attention and leverage as a council leader is welcome. Place can now directly shape local politics in a way that may have seemed beyond his wildest dreams.
He now also has a larger, more attentive audience than the one he had as a member of the public with nothing more than a smartphone and things to get off his chest. And that means that when he now speaks, more people than ever before will tune in to listen, whether they agree with him or not.
But, as the former police officer turned businessman turned councillor has already found out, being thrust into the centre stage of local politics also means being subject to even greater scrutiny. And this doesn’t just apply to his actions, decisions and comments going forward either. It also applies retrospectively. And it’s already begun ...
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To make it even more of a no-brainer, we'll even knock 40% off for one whole year – that's just £38.97 for 12 months (just over 10p a day)
We'll even throw in a free book, too – a total bargain!
Thank you.
