The outgoing Nottinghamshire County Council leader says Reform UK 'can't stop boats coming down the Trent' as he pledges to hold the party to account over the coming years. Sam Smith, who had led the county council on behalf of the Conservatives since Ben Bradley resigned, claims Reform pledged in some of their election material that they would "stop the boats" if elected to run Nottinghamshire County Council. Councillor Smith, who narrowly held his Newark East seat following the Nottinghamshire County Council election on May 1, said: "We'll be holding them to account on those false promises they have made to the residents of Nottinghamshire. A letter went out from Nigel Farage right across the county telling them that if they vote Reform, Nottinghamshire County Council will stop the boats. "Well, the Reform councillors who have been elected today will have a shock when they arrive at County Hall and they don't find the Home Office department because guess what, we don't have one. They can't even stop the boats coming down the Trent, never mind about cutting immigration and stopping the boats over the Channel." Dr John Doddy, the only Reform UK county councillor in Nottinghamshire going in to Thursday's election, says the priorities for he and his 39 new colleagues will actually include potholes and services for those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Dr Doddy said the priorities had not changed, but that Reform would approach them differently. The Conservatives have gone from the 37 seats they won in 2021 to just 17 councillors. Labour have ended up with just four councillors and there are then three councillors representing separate different independent groups. Turnout in the election overall was 36.15%, down slightly from the 38.3% turnout in 2021. There are still two more seats up for grabs as the Mansfield North election was delayed following the death of a candidate, with that election now taking place on June 12. The Mansfield North result will not change who runs Nottinghamshire, though, given Reform achieved well over the 34 councillors needed for a majority. The party, which now has 40 county councillors in Nottinghamshire, says it will choose its council leader by the end of the weekend. The result in Nottinghamshire mirrored the situation in many other parts of the UK, where Reform unseated major parties in what is being described as the end of the two party political system. Cllr Sam Smith said: "The results right across the country for the Conservative Party have not been as good as I would have wished for. "Here in Nottinghamshire, I have lost some really hard-working and dedicated Conservative councillors who have delivered on the priorities of their residents for four years, eight years and more. They've sadly not been re-elected to carry on with that and that is at no fault of their own whatsoever. That is just the national swing. "If you look at the results right across the country and compare them with how we have done in Nottinghamshire, I am probably the proudest Conservative leader in the country right now. Here at Nottinghamshire, we have the biggest Conservative group in the country, I believe, and that is something to be proud of." (Image: Joseph Raynor/Reach PLC) Kay Cutts, who led Nottinghamshire County Council for the Conservatives between 2009 and 2013 and then again from 2017 until 2021, said of the new Reform councillors: "They've got an awful lot to learn, a lot of people who haven't been in politics before and I think they'll come here and think they're going to change the world and find it's not quite as easy as they think. But I wish the whole county well. "I'd rather look at a map of the county that's blue and turquoise than blue and red, because I think the Labour Party have done such a disastrous job since they were elected. I've been around a long time. I have to tell you the Conservative Party always comes back up again. "This is a mere blip. Conservatives will be back and back in spades, I can promise you that. It's a sacred trust receiving someone's vote and if Reform have been voted in, then I think they should be given an opportunity to do what they can do, but also be a bit humble about it as well."