New 27-year-old Nottinghamshire County Council leader says his youth doesn't 'play on his mind'

The man set to become Nottinghamshire County Council's new leader would be the youngest boss of a top-tier authority in the entire country, but the 27-year-old does not want to focus on his age. Councillor Sam Smith, first elected to the county council representing the Newark East ward in 2021, has been chosen by the Conservative group running the authority to succeed Ben Bradley.

Councillor Bradley has led the county council since 2021 but is now heading to pastures new as he seeks to become Conservative candidate for Greater Lincolnshire Mayor. Councillor Smith's appointment as Conservative group leader at the county council was announced on Monday (November 25) and he is set to officially take office in just over a week.

When Ben Bradley succeeded Kay Cutts, much was made of the fact that he was taking on Nottinghamshire's largest council aged just 31. Yet although Councillor Smith is taking on the same task four years earlier than that, he said: "We need the best person for the job who can continue delivering for the residents of Nottinghamshire on their priorities, run the council and campaign really hard.

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"It's not about age really, it's about experience. I got elected onto Gedling Borough Council about five or six years ago and I've been on this authority for three and a half years.

"If you're 50 and you got elected in 2021, I still have more experience than you, so the age thing really doesn't play on my mind at all. Let's just get on with delivering for the residents of Nottinghamshire."

Councillor Smith has lived in Nottinghamshire his entire life, now residing in Burton Joyce. His mother lives near Gedling Church and his sister is a teaching assistant in the area.

Although proud of his Nottinghamshire roots, Councillor Smith says some of his education in the county was "poor." Having attended the former Gedling School, Councillor Smith says there would have been no expectation that he could end up running a council.

The Conservative group leader said: "The quality of education in my secondary school was awful. The school is now closed.

"When I was at prom, I got the certificate for the one who is going to be the next prime minister, so I've always been a sad political geek. If you went to Gedling School, being leader of the county council in the next few years was probably something people couldn't reach for.

"I hope that me becoming leader can really shine a light on the fact that no matter what your education background or where you live, you can go on and do great things if you put your mind to it and work really hard. Whilst my friends were out at 18 and 19 every Friday, Saturday and Sunday partying, I was doing that.

"But I was delivering leaflets and knocking on doors with hangovers. Now I'm leader of the county council. I'm really proud of it.

"It's not about me though, it's about delivery and every day, every second, my focus is on what we can do differently to improve the lives of children who were at that terrible school that I was at and how we can make them flourish and I'll do that every day."

Councillor Smith will be taking office with less than 150 days to go until the May 2025 local elections. Nottinghamshire County Council is the only authority here affected by this round of elections and the Conservatives will be hoping to retain the council they have run in some form since 2017.

Labour and the Nottinghamshire County Independent Group will be vying to wrestle control off the Tories and both opposition groups have already had their say on Councillor Smith's appointment. Councillor Francis Purdue-Horan, speaking on behalf of the Nottinghamshire County Independent Group, said: "Congratulations to Sam Smith for winning the vote to be the preferred candidate of the Conservatives to be the next leader of Nottinghamshire County Council.

"It's clear with his appointment that the Conservatives in Nottinghamshire have given up. Everyone knows in May, the race to run the county council is between the independents and Labour."

Councillor Kate Foale, leader of the county council's Labour group, said: "The face may have changed but it's still the same tired party behind it, out of ideas and failing to deliver. With Sam Smith as leader, instead of tackling the problems head on, we will no doubt see more populism and rhetoric as the Tories seek to divide our communities ahead of next year's election."

Yet Councillor Smith says he is proud of his party's record in office, saying the Conservatives have maintained a library in every Nottinghamshire community, invested over £60 million into Nottinghamshire's roads and kept council tax rises as low as possible. Such is Councillor Smith's pride at his party's record that he says when he officially takes office, he won't be changing much in the run up to the May elections.

Councillor Smith said: "We have done such a good job at delivering key services to residents at low cost and high quality across the county since 2017. What I am going to do as leader isn't change those policies, because they're delivering good outcomes for residents.

"What I'm going to do as leader is shine a light on all the good things we do at a council level, day in day out. We work with a really great team here at Nottinghamshire County Council.

"We do a lot of good things. We may not tell people about it as much as we should be doing.

"That is what I'm going to do as leader - shine a light on all those good things so that wherever you are in the county, you know exactly what this Conservative administration is doing to make your life better." Nottinghamshire Live's interview with Councillor Smith took place just hours after his appointment had been confirmed, meaning the leader's office still looks much the same.

A picture of Ben Bradley and Boris Johnson still adorns the wall behind the main desk, for example. Councillor Bradley has reportedly given his assurance that his items will be moved to his own private office in time for Councillor Smith taking the hot seat.

Criticism has been levelled at Councillor Bradley by some for his decision to run in the Greater Lincolnshire Mayoral election. The outgoing leader says his decision to step back from Nottinghamshire politics is not connected to the Lincolnshire race though, saying the move followed two "frustrating" election defeats this year.

Asked whether he was comfortable with Councillor Bradley resigning as leader so close to the local elections, Councillor Smith added: "I will be forever grateful for the impact Ben's had on this council. I totally understand why he probably doesn't want to sit here in this office now.

"A lot of people forget it's not about the candidate all the time. Your family and friends are impacted massively by election after election after election and you sacrifice a lot of time with all those people.

"I support Ben's reasons for choosing not to continue as leader. I'm grateful and pleased that he will still be a councillor of this council and I wish him well in Lincolnshire, they'll be very lucky to have him."

Councillor Smith, who beat colleagues Richard Jackson and Neil Clarke, will have to have his appointment confirmed by the next full meeting of Nottinghamshire County Council on December 5. The new leader is then set to announce his top team of cabinet members days after.