Doncaster elections 2025: The emotional rollercoaster to Ros Jones’ fourth term as Mayor – as it happened

It was the first time for many of the Labour team where the results of an election in Doncaster were not clear – and the Reform UK challenge was not far off from toppling their long-established political tower.

Mayor Jones beat Reform UK’s Alexander Jones by less than 700 votes. Nick Fletcher, the Conservative candidate, trailed in third nearly 5,000 votes behind the leaders.

It was a shaky start for Labour.

As ballot verification and vote sampling took place in the hours after polls closed at 10pm, Reform UK looked chirpy. For Labour, on the other hand, faces painted a bleak picture.

Some Labour members, who are running for councillor positions, were taken aback by the close competition in wards they hoped to win – nothing was presenting itself as safe.

One Labour councillor walked away from the counting floor at around midnight and sat, head on her hands, with a face full of concern.

But, Labour weren’t willing to hedge their bets too early. One insider told the media pen it was still a “three-horse race”.

That didn’t last long though, as by the time counting started in the early hours of the morning, Nick Fletcher’s Conservative team were lowering expectations.

At least one senior member of Fletcher’s team went home. It felt like a foregone conclusion that the former Don Valley MP had come up short.

It meant Labour sources were also worried. A better performance from the Conservatives would, hypothetically, split the vote with Reform – one Labour insider said he’d hoped Fletcher would have performed better.

Most of the candidates turned up during the night, but a notable absence for much of the count was Alexander Jones.

The 30-year-old was very much a front-runner and, when the Conservatives felt Fletcher’s race was over, more people noticed that young Jones was not even present to observe.

Reform UK sources weren’t forthcoming on where he was, when journalists probed as to what Jones could be doing other than observing a mayoral count he seemed on the verge of winning.

Everyone said it was “too close to call”. Lee Pitcher MP felt it was a two-horse race by 12.30am.

Suggestions a recount could be on the cards started to gain momentum, as members of various parties – including outside of Labour and Reform – felt the count was very much within the margin of error.

By 2am, we had some figures on turnout. 32 per cent of the Doncaster electorate turned out at their polling stations on the day to cast their vote.

Over 60 per cent of postal ballots were returned.

Soon, the count descended into tense quiet. The loudest noise in the room was the ruffling of paper as counters sifted through the ballots.

Cross-party conversations reached plans for after the ballots were counted. There were dreams of world cruises, caravan getaways and a Chinese takeaway.

By 2.40am, Irwen Martin, chairman of Doncaster Reform UK, had a large grin on his face.

He said his stomach “was in knots”, but he was feeling good. Perhaps, in the end, due to the news reaching Doncaster of Reform UK victories elsewhere.

At 4am, we still had no sign of Reform’s mayoral candidate, but Nick Fletcher seemed on a resurgence.

Previous suggestions of a Labour/Reform head-to-head had been replaced by talk of a three horse race once again.

It was exactly what Labour had been wanting. Shoulders started to relax and tentative smiles started to appear.

One Labour insider said Fletcher’s resurgence wasn’t enough to contend, but more like the performance they’d been hoping for.

Then, shortly after 4am, Alexander Jones arrived. Some wards had already finished counting.

He wasn’t phased. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’m here before the results aren’t I? That’s the main thing.”

Less than an hour later, the election returning officer Damian Allen – whose day job is being CEO of the City of Doncaster Council – called the candidates to the stage.

Ros Jones was declared the winner. Making it four-in-a-row for her and Labour.

Alexander Jones stood to brief applause from the Reform UK team in attendance, but they quickly left after Mayor Jones’ victory speech – he did not speak to any media.

Nick Fletcher shared frustrations with a split vote – blaming Reform UK for another four years of what he called “managed decline”.

Labour were jubilant. Chants of “there’s only one Ros Jones” broke out as the race was called.

Ros Jones, now 75, worked her way out after speaking with media, for a rest.

She, and many others, will be back today as the results for each wards’ elected city councillors are counted.

There is still much to play for.