🥨 A word from Helen, editor/writer at The Knot
Hi, how are you? Welcome to another week of The Knot’s positive news round-up from across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire – a little dose of good news to brighten your Monday.
We’re doing things a little differently this week, intertwining our good news offerings with a piece on Reform in Newcastle, where things aren’t looking particularly good for the party following the resignation of Christine Duffy, the former councillor for Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough’s Town ward.
She originally sent her letter of resignation to Kidsgrove Town Council, which was shared with Kidsgrove Independents. She then stated she was not, in fact, resigning on Reform Newcastle’s Facebook page. The Council then announced they’d received her resignation on Friday, with the letter dated 20 August.
We hope you enjoy your week, and look out for our feature on all the latest updates from Capital & Centric in Newcastle this Wednesday when we will be running our interview with development manager Jonny Nolan. He told us to watch out for a launch party at Rye Park this January, with the public invited to join.
Good News 🎉
👨🏻 THE KNOT’S PERSON OF THE WEEK – Professor Raheel Nawaz 👨🏻
The University of Staffordshire’s Pro Vice-Chancellor will receive one of Pakistan’s highest honours, the Medal of Distinction, in recognition of his sustained policy contribution to national strategies for education and technology. Professor Nawaz is among the top 10 most cited scholars in the world in five fields: Applied AI, Digital Education, Educational Data Science, Tertiary Education, and Future of Education. Professor Nawaz is also a strong advocate for compassionate leadership and believes kindness is one of the most impactful leadership traits. His TEDx talk exploring this philosophy has been cited by ministers and heads of state. He will be presented with the Medal of Distinction at a special ceremony on Pakistan Day on 23 March 2027.
🏗️ New plans for Iceland Longton. Demolition work is set to start on the former Iceland store in Hanley today. The work to safely pull down the vacant Charles Street building and to carry out site preparation and levelling work will take around six weeks to complete and will pave the way for the first phase of the multi-million-pound Etruscan Square brownfield regeneration scheme to progress. The council is working with partners PfP Igloo and Genr8 to deliver the Etruscan Square development with a phase 1 scheme of new, affordable homes.
🔥 Help for Sandyford residents. With the cause of the fire in Sandyford now determined to be a disposable BBQ, Stoke-on-Trent City Council is continuing to support residents and oversee recovery work in the area. Four households were provided with emergency accommodation, while other families affected by the fire were able to stay with friends and relatives nearby. Staffordshire Police has arrested two people in connection with the incident and investigations are continuing. Building assurance officers are continuing to assess the condition of the properties and advise on the safety measures required.
☕️ Coffee#1 opens at Trentham. There’s a new place for a latte following the opening of this popular chain at Trentham Shopping Village. The seasonal menu is looking sweet, with passionfruit and mango tart and raspberry and coconut cake among the temptations. Pair it with a Dubai-style iced mocha or a Tropical Milkshake. No need to leave the dog outside, as they’re welcome.
😃 Our Top Five Don’t-Miss Events this Week. If you love a cocktail, World Class GB 2025 winner Lele Mensah is taking over the bar at Desire (28/08, 6pm), serving a specially created menu of cocktails inspired by culture, flavour and storytelling.
The Kiln at Number 12 in Longton has plenty coming up, including wax melt burner pottery painting (16/11, 1pm-2.30pm), tree light pottery painting (23/11, 1pm-2.30pm), Christmas bauble pottery painting (30/11, 1pm-2.30pm) and dog clay modelling (07/12, 1pm-3pm). There’s been a lot of interest in the Heritage Open Days from Knotters, so here’s another: a Walking Tour Exploring Hanley’s Monuments & Stories (19/09, 2pm-3pm), which explores the park and cemetery among other historic spots; the walk begins at the bandstand.
Ready for some laughs? The The Funhouse Comedy Club is back (23/09, 7.30pm) at The Rigger with its “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” competition, where 12 new comedians battle it out to survive 5 minutes; tickets from £5. Penkhull Village Brass – Oktoberfest will bring the oompahs in a traditional beerhouse setting at the Dipping House on 16/10 and 17/10, with ales provided by local brewhouse Lymestone Brewery.
As Gullis rages at Kidsgrove Independents, another Reform councillor is gone in Newcastle, prompting a by-election
Words: Helen Dalley
Is Reform unravelling in Newcastle? Jonathan Gullis has been accused of shouting, swearing and making threats towards Kidsgrove town councillor Gordon Davies, a member of the Kidsgrove Independents, at a council meeting on 8 July. Davies alleged that Gullis’ remarks included ‘get the f**k out of here’, and ‘I’m having you’ and added that he later made a verbal apology to him for the expletive-ridden outburst. Davies also alleges that a fellow councillor had to physically restrain Gullis during the confrontation.
Cllr Davies said the incident began after he approached the council leader during a recess to explain why he had earlier asked the chief executive why the meeting had started early. The allegations have not been independently verified and are the subject of a council Code of Conduct complaint. He told The Knot that he’s hoping the monitoring officer at the council will conduct a ‘proper investigation’ into his complaint. “At the moment she wants to deal with it informally. In my appreciation that means letting cllr Gullis get away with aggressive and threatening behaviour which incited some other Reform cllrs to behave just as badly to me in mob pile-in fashion.”
In a post on his personal Facebook page on 10 August, Gullis does not refer to last month’s council meeting. He does, however, accuse the Kidsgrove Independents of going beyond legitimate political scrutiny, alleging that a “sustained online campaign” against him had resulted in “repeated personal insults” and online threats that had left him concerned about the safety and wellbeing of his loved ones.
Also last month, Reform's Olivia Westcott lost her Kidsgrove Town Council seat after failing to sign her mandatory Declaration of Acceptance of Office within the required time limit. Labour’s Angela Cooper won the Kidsgrove Central & Ravenscliffe Town Council by-election on 6 August with 403 votes compared to Westcott’s 377 votes. Westcott remains a Reform councillor on Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council.
There was yet more drama for Reform Newcastle this month as former councillor Christine Duffy sent her resignation letter to the wrong council, insisted she wasn’t leaving, and then resigned anyway. On 4 August, Duffy originally sent a resignation letter to Kidsgrove Town Council, even though she represented Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council's Town ward. Duffy then stated on Reform’s Facebook page for Newcastle Borough that she wasn’t resigning.
But on 21 August, the council issued a press release stating that they had received her resignation, prompting a by-election. The original resignation letter was obtained by Kidsgrove Independents, who shared it on their Facebook page. In the letter, Duffy stated her reason for resigning as, “I had very little or no training for this role.”
Duffy says she withdrew her resignation before it reached the council's Proper Officer, while the Kidsgrove clerk reportedly forwarded the resignation to Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council on the same day. A text message from Duffy, shared by Kidsgrove Independents on 8 August, also appeared to indicate that she believed she was no longer a councillor. Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council chief executive Gordon Mole, however, has said that by the time he received the resignation, it had already been withdrawn.
Cllr Ray Williams, leader of the Kidsgrove Independents, told The Knot when a council appears to be sitting on a councillor's resignation letter rather than acting on it, it is not a good look. “Cllr Christine Duffy resigned her position on 4 August, and her messages up to and including 8 August were clear that she believed she was no longer a councillor. Yet Gordon Mole told the BBC that cllr Duffy rescinded her resignation immediately.
“Cllr Duffy has confirmed she spoke to no one from Newcastle Borough Council, and that the only message she received on the matter was from Cllr Gullis, which she was ignoring. So, the question is: who told Gordon Mole that this resignation had been withdrawn? Has Mr Mole been given inaccurate information, or has something else gone on here? This is a matter we intend to pursue, though we understand that may prove difficult given the monitoring officer's previous conduct in relation to the Reform administration.”
On 19 August, Duffy issued a statement, which said, “My position could not be clearer. I remain a Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Councillor for the Town ward and will continue carrying out the role I was elected to do.” Two days later, however, the Borough Council confirmed that they received her resignation last Friday, prompting a by-election for the Town ward.
Kidsgrove Independents has since submitted an FOI request seeking the exact date and time the resignation email was received, the exact date and time it was accessed or read by Mole, records of communications between the council and cllr Duffy, the dates and times of those communications, and any records relating to the withdrawal of the resignation.
Duffy issued another statement via Reform’s Facebook page on 22 August, stating, “This is not a decision I have taken lightly, but recent events have taken a significant toll on my health and wellbeing. I have therefore reached the difficult conclusion that I must now put my health first.” She added that she had received calls from national newspaper journalists despite her personal telephone number not being publicly available. “I do not know how they obtained it, but I have found this deeply unsettling.”
Kidsgrove Independents have since said that the by-election, “is not just embarrassing for the party – it’s the voters delivering their verdict on Gullis’ shambolic leadership.” They added, “We know Reform will come for us for holding them to account. If that's the cost of giving residents confidence in local democracy, so be it.”
On our socials…
We chatted with Jonny Nolan, development manager at Capital & Centric, about the progress being made at Newcastle, with a launch party scheduled for Rye Park in January…
🥨 Most popular stories from the last week on The Knot
🚶♀️ Walking Stoke’s surviving bottle ovens: We joined a walk to raise cash for a mural commemorating 60 years of dance music in the city, which will be situated in Hanley
💃 A new place to go: In case you’ve missed it, The Warehouse @ Potbank will open this Autumn: events are selling out first so go check out the website for tickets!
😀 Heritage Open Days are back: they’re running from 11-20/09, book here
Weekly Weather (Stoke-on-Trent):
Mon ⛅️ 23° (12°) Tue ⛅️ 28° (14°) Wed ☀️ 30° (15°) Thu ⛅️ 27° (13°) Fri ⛅️ 25° (13°) Sat 🌧️ 23° (13°) Sun ☁️ 22° (13°).
Sunrise 24/08: 06.04 ☀️ Sunset 24/08: 20.16 🌅