The Society of Editors has described the decision by a Reform UK council leader to ban engagement with Nottinghamshire Live and its Local Democracy Reporting Service staff as “profoundly wrong”.
The ban, reported by the Nottingham Post yesterday (26 August 2025), means that all of Reform UK’s 41 Nottinghamshire county councillors will refuse to speak to any journalist from the Reach-owned Nottinghamshire titles and the team of reporters it manages under the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). Journalists will also not receive press releases, be granted interviews with Reform UK councillors and they will not be invited to cover any county council events in the locality, the Society understands.
Responding to the ban, Dawn Alford, Chief Executive of the Society said: “Reform UK’s decision to shut out Nottinghamshire Live and its Local Democracy reporters is profoundly wrong. Political parties must welcome scrutiny, not silence it. When councillors refuse to answer questions or provide information, they’re not just shutting out the press — they’re shutting out the public they serve.
“Local reporters are the eyes and ears of their communities and democracy depends on transparency, and that means elected officials facing scrutiny even when it’s uncomfortable. You don’t get to pick and choose which journalists ask the questions in a democracy. This decision sets a very dangerous precedent and we hope it is lifted with immediate effect.”
The decision to ban engagement with Nottinghamshire Live staff comes after the title published an article last week claiming that the Reform UK Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council Mick Barton, had advised councillors to back a controversial Nottingham expansion that some councillors are ‘not happy’ with. The ban also comes just two months after Reform UK’s Ashfield MP Less Anderson launched an attack on Nottinghamshire Live for running too many “negative” stories about his party.
