WE appear to be suggesting “close but no cigar” for Reform in a lot of wards in Harlow so far.

This is our fifth piece out of eleven.

So here we are in the heart of Harlow, where at present there are three sitting Labour councillors.

Back in 2024, James Griggs got 67% of the vote. He is a local and popular man. James isn’t up this year but Stefan Mullard-Toal is.

Stefan is Chris Vince’s right-hand man and fulfils several roles in the Labour Party. For a number of reasons, we are very impressed with the work Stefan has done over past ten years.

However, the irony may be that he may be the most vulnerable to the antipathy towards Labour right now.

The Reform candidate is Cindy Fry. Again we know very little about here but, just a few other Reform candidates we have spoken to, her intentions may be to simply represent “first and foremost the long term residents of Harlow”.

What may happen is Reform end up with a few councillors who may be able to fulfil functions of ward councillor but may lack a leader. That is why they may need their candidate in Mark Hall to win.

The Conservative candidate is former councillor Colleen Morrison. We think the Conservatives appreciate her when she was a councillor as Colleen did a lot of hard graft behind the scenes (see estate inspections for details).

Of course, we also remember her whackier moments: Panama Papers and Fat Camps to name two!

Once again, this is a tough call. It may be a question of where will the Labour votes go?

Could the Dan Swords Factor prove that Colleen is no has-been?

We think Colleen might sneak it?

YH Prediction : Cons Gain

Alternatively, Reform will sweep the board and we will pled the Minnehoma defence……

List of Candidates