Jason Zadrozny - Timeline of a turbulent career in Ashfield politics

During that time, he has represented two different parties, been a district and county councillor, led Ashfield Council on two separate occasions, tried three times become Ashfield’s MP and once tried to become Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner.

Zadrozny’s political career began in 2007 when, as a Liberal Democract, he was elected firstly to Nottinghamshire County Council and then to Ashfield Council, both times representing Sutton North.

The Ashfield result saw Labour lose control of the council and Zadrozny became leader until 2009, when Labour regained control of the authority.

In the 2009 county council elections, Zadrozny held on to his seat with an increased majority.

Zadrozny made his first attempt to become an MP in 2010 when he stood as a Liberal Democrat for the Ashfield seat but was edged out by Labour’s Gloria De Piero.

At a local level, he was re-elected as a Liberal Democrat to Ashfield Council in 2011 and Nottinghamshire Council in 2013.

In 2015, he was suspended by the Liberal Democrats after being arrested and questioned by police over child sex abuse allegations.

He strongly denied all the accusations against him and the case ended two years later due to lack of evidence.

The incident saw him leave the Liberal Democrats and then be elected to Ashfield Council again in 2015 as an Independent in the newly-created Larwood ward.

He then formed and became leader of the Ashfield Independents.

In 2016, he stood unsuccessfully for the role of Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner, finishing fifth behind Labour’s Paddy Tipping.

In 2017, he was again elected to Nottinghamshire Council in the newly-created Ashfields seat as the Ashfield Independents won all five of the seats they contested.

In 2018, he again became Ashfield Council leader after eight Labour councillors defected to the Ashfield Independents.

His position was then strengthened in 2019 Ashfield Council election when the Ashfield Independents won 30 out of the 35 seats.

Also in 2019, Zadrozny made his second attempt to become an MP, again standing for the Ashfield seat, this time as an Ashfield Independent, but finished second to Conservative Lee Anderson.

In the 2019 general election, Zadrozny stood for Parliament in the Ashfield constituency again; this time for the Ashfield Independents.[13] He came second, with 27.6 percent of the vote.

He retained his role as Ashfield Council leader in 2023 after the Ashfield Independents won another landslide election victory, again winning 30 of the 35 seats.

His third and final attempt to reach Westminster came in 2024 when he stood for the Ashfield seat again as an Ashfield Independent but finished third behind Lee Anderson who won the seat for Reform.

Zadrozny lost his Ashfields Nottinghamshire Council seat to Reform’s Alan Bite in 2025 as the Ashfield Independents lost all but one of their seats.

In September of this year, he was found guilty of tax evasion and fraud in his trial at Northampton Crown Court and resigned as council leader and leader of the Ashfield Independents, to be replaced by Coun Samantha Deakin.

He resigned from Ashfield Council on November 12, 2026 to end his political career.