Report by Local Democracy Reporter – Jon Cooper
An outspoken community councillor has been elected as the new Opposition Conservative Group Leader at Derbyshire’s High Peak Borough Council in preparation for the May 2027 elections to a new North Derbyshire authority under Local Government Reorganisation changes.
High Peak Conservative councillors voted in favour to crown High Peak Borough Cllr Adrian Hopkinson, who oversees Glossop, as Leader of the Opposition Conservative Group at Labour-controlled High Peak Borough Council.
Cllr Hopkinson said: “I am delighted that my colleagues have put their trust in me to lead the Conservative Group.
“We have a strong team of councillors who care deeply about the communities they represent and my job will be to make sure that we provide an effective opposition at High Peak Borough Council while continuing to campaign for residents across the borough.
“The next year will be particularly important. The creation of the new North Derbyshire council represents the biggest change to Local Government here for decades. We want to make sure that the High Peak has a strong voice on that new authority from the very beginning.
“That means getting out into our communities, listening to residents, and campaigning on the things that matter to them. Whether it is fighting to save Carelink and Glossop tip or simply making sure that our roads are properly maintained, people deserve councillors who will speak up for them and get things done.”
Cllr Hopkinson – known as Adie – was elected to High Peak Borough Council in 2023 and he is considered to be an energetic local campaigner.
A Conservative Group spokesperson said: “Adie is a proven campaigner, a familiar and popular figure in the High Peak, and someone with a remarkable record of public and community service.”
The Glossop ward councillor has been a prominent voice opposing the Labour-controlled borough council’s decision to shut down its Carelink alarm service for the vulnerable, elderly and disabled over recruitment problems.
Labour-led High Peak Borough Council has argued its decision to shut Carelink has been based on the struggle to recruit and retain the level of staff needed to safely deliver the discretionary service and it is helping customers move to an alternative provider ahead of the service’s official closure at the end of September.
Cllr Hopkinson has also campaigned to retain Glossop household waste recycling centre, which the Reform UK-controlled Derbyshire County Council is currently considering closing in a bid to save £360,000.
Labour High Peak Borough Council Deputy Leader, Cllr Damien Greenhalgh, has also demanded the proposed closure be reversed and stopped after he and Labour High Peak MP Jon Pearce submitted a petition with over 4,400 names to the county council.
Cllr Hopkinson, who served with Derbyshire Constabulary for 30 years, including work on the roads policing unit and as a Family Liaison Officer has repeatedly raised the poor condition of local roads, pressed for repairs by the county council’s highways team and challenged the priorities used for highways maintenance.
But the county council has recently stated that it is making great progress on reducing the number of potholes in Derbyshire thanks to new, innovative repair methods resulting in safer, more resilient roads.
Cllr Hopkinson has also spent 17 years with Glossop Mountain Rescue Team, including time as its chairperson, and he has been involved with Scouting and a Neighbourhood Watch in Glossop.
The Conservative Group said its leadership change reflected its increasing focus on the 2027 local elections and the transition to the new North Derbyshire unitary authority – which will be called Derbyshire North Council – and which will replace and merge High Peak Borough Council and other current local authorities as part of the Labour Government’s Local Government Reorganisation.
The Government confirmed its nationwide LGR plans, in July, to bring in larger unitary councils so that Derbyshire’s current two-tier system, with a county council and eight borough and district councils as well as Derby City Council, is to be scrapped and replaced with two unitary councils – a Derbyshire North Council and a Derbyshire South Council.
High Peak Borough Council, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire Dales and North East Derbyshire councils will be abolished and join the upper half of Amber Valley to form Derbyshire North Council.
Derby, Erewash and South Derbyshire councils will also be scrapped and will form Derbyshire South Council with the lower half of Amber Valley.
Elections to the new Derbyshire North Council are due to take place in May, 2027, and the council will initially operate as a shadow authority during a transition period before taking responsibility for local services from April 1, 2028.
A Conservative Group spokesperson said: “The elections next May will determine who represents the High Peak during the creation of the new North Derbyshire council.
“We want to go into those elections with a strong campaigning organisation, a clear message, and candidates who are rooted in their communities. Adie is the right person to lead that effort.”
The former High Peak Borough Council Opposition Conservative Group Leader, Cllr Linda Grooby, who represents Cote Heath, is currently listed on the local authority’s website as being non-aligned to any political group.
