Nick Clarke’s long and often controversial political career has suffered another dramatic twist after the former leader of Cambridgeshire County Council lost his seat on Suffolk County Council as Reform UK swept to power across the county.
Clarke, who once led Cambridgeshire County Council under the Conservative banner before defecting to UKIP during the height of the Brexit debate, was defeated in the Haverhill East & Rural division by Reform UK’s Luke O’Brien by just 28 votes.
The result capped a bruising night for the Conservatives in Suffolk, where Reform secured overall control of the council in a major breakthrough for Nigel Farage’s party at local government level.
Official figures showed Reform candidate Luke O’Brien polled 1,268 votes compared to Clarke’s 1,240. Labour’s Quinn Cox secured 371 votes, the Green Party’s Luke Stannett won 496, while Liberal Democrat Chris Connor finished on 237.
For Clarke, the defeat marks the latest chapter in a political journey that has seen him switch allegiances, spark controversy and repeatedly re-emerge in public life.
A former RAF serviceman and businessman, Clarke became one of the most recognisable Conservative figures in Cambridgeshire during his time as leader of the county council between 2011 and 2013.
But his leadership ended in disappointment when he lost his Fulbourn seat in the 2013 local elections. At the time, Clarke admitted living 12 miles outside the division may have contributed to voters turning against him.
Writing after the defeat, he said the distance issue had “clearly” tripped him up after Liberal Democrat opponents highlighted where he lived during the campaign.
He also blamed a growing protest vote over immigration for damaging Conservative support across the county.
Two years later, Clarke dramatically defected from the Conservatives to UKIP, accusing David Cameron’s party of failing to truly commit to leaving the European Union.
Announcing his switch in 2015, Clarke said UKIP had the “clarity of vision and drive to sustain the exit argument” and dismissed the Conservative promise of an EU referendum as a “token” gesture designed to hold the party together.
He said at the time he had “no confidence” the Conservatives could deliver Britain’s exit from the EU.
Clarke went on to stand as UKIP’s candidate in the 2016 Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner election, finishing third with nearly 30,000 first-preference votes.
Despite his break with the Conservatives, Clarke eventually returned to the party and rebuilt his political career in Suffolk, serving as a West Suffolk councillor and later becoming an officer within the West Suffolk Conservative Association.
His biography on the association website described him as an experienced businessman with decades of public service experience, including time in the RAF, local government and the voluntary sector.
However, Clarke continued to attract criticism during his return to frontline politics. In 2020 he sparked backlash after posting comments questioning the extent of coronavirus lockdown restrictions, describing them as an infringement of “basic human rights”.
He also wrote that he did not know anyone who had died from Covid-19 and suggested lockdowns made less sense in rural areas.
The remarks drew condemnation from political opponents in Cambridgeshire with Liberal Democrat councillor Jose Hales branding the comments “drivel”.
Now, six years later, Clarke has once again found himself on the wrong side of a political wave, this time driven by Reform UK’s rapid rise in support across Suffolk.
The narrowness of the defeat will sting for a politician who has spent decades in public life and repeatedly reinvented himself during some of the most turbulent years in modern British politics.
For Reform, meanwhile, Clarke’s defeat symbolised a wider collapse in Conservative support as the insurgent party tightened its grip on Suffolk politics.
In 2024 he was found to have committed ‘serious’ breaches of the Suffolk code of conduct including bullying, disclosing confidential information, using their positions to the advantage or disadvantage of themselves or anyone else, and bringing their role or local authority into disrepute in May.
The West Suffolk Standard Committee was unanimous in finding Councillor Clarke in breach of the Suffolk code of conduct
Nick Clarke remains a West Suffolk district councillor for Clare, Hundon & Kedington
