Jason Zadrozny

Cllr Jason Zadrozny
Leader of Ashfield District Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 Apr 2018
Preceded by	Cheryl Butler (Lab)
In office 3 May 2007 – 7 May 2009
Succeeded by	John Knight (Lab)
Ashfield Independents Group Leader on Ashfield District Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 July 2016
Preceded by	Office established
Councillor for Ashfield District Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 March 2007
Ward	Larwood
Personal details
Political party	Ashfield Independents (since 2016) Liberal Democrats (until 2015)

Jason Bernard Zadrozny (born 20 July 1980) is a British politician from the Ashfield Independents. He was first elected to Nottinghamshire County Council and Ashfield District Council in 2007 as a Liberal Democrat candidate.

He won the Sutton-in-Ashfield North by-election to Nottinghamshire County Council in March 2007, with a 44% swing and 60% increase of the vote share. Two months later, he won a seat on Ashfield District Council. He was elected the Leader of the Council that month becoming the youngest council leader in the UK at that time, aged 26.

Early life

Zadrozny was born in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire and is of Polish descent. He grew up in Kirkby-in-Ashfield attending Greenwood Primary School then Ashfield Comprehensive School.

Zadrozny attended West Nottinghamshire College where he completed a BTeC National Diploma in Performance Art. He then obtained a Higher National Diploma in Theatre Studies from the college in 2002.

Career before politics

While at college, Zadrozny wrote, directed and produced several plays and theatre productions. Most notably a school's tour of Midsummer Night's Dream and the staging of his own play, Babcia. Zadrozny also did background work in television during this period with uncredited appearances in Kiss Me Kate for the BBC, Crossroads, Peak Practice and Barbara for Carlton.

After leaving college, Zadrozny worked for Kingfisher as a co-ordinator in their Ashfield B&Q Warehouse. He taught youth theatre in the evenings at the Pleasley Landmark Centre. In 2004, Zadrozny took over as the Manager of the Pleasley Landmark Centre, a community and business resource centre. In 2006, Zadrozny left that role to take on the job of constituency organiser for the Liberal Democrat Paul Holmes, MP for Chesterfield, a job he ceased in May 2007 once elected Leader of Ashfield District Council as a Liberal Democrat councillor.

Political career

Zadrozny was Leader of Ashfield District Council from May 2007 until May 2009. He was elected for the Sutton-in-Ashfield North ward to both the District Council and Nottinghamshire County Council as a Liberal Democrat. While in control of the Council, Zadrozny promoted Community Asset Transfers of two local buildings; The Acacia Centre in Annesley and the Manor Rooms in Teversal Village. His administration launched proposals for a Neighbourhood Charter of environmental pledges, creation of new community protection services and opened the new Lammas leisure centre in Sutton-in-Ashfield.

In May 2009, Labour took back leadership of the authority. In June 2009 Zadrozny held his County Council seat. He was re-elected to Ashfield District in 2011 and to the County Council again in 2013.

In 2015, following suspension as a member of the Liberal Democrat Party, Zadrozny left the party and was elected as an Independent for a newly created ward, Larwood. In November that year he formed the Ashfield Independents Party. In 2017 he was elected to Nottinghamshire County Council for the new Ashfields Division as an Ashfield Independent. In 2016, Zadrozny ran for the elected position of Nottinghamshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner. He announced his candidacy in order to highlight his belief that he was victim of a politically motivated attack, relating to his arrest and questioning over historic child sex allegations (charges were subsequently dropped). He came last, and lost his deposit of £5000, with 7,164 votes.

In 2017, he ran the Hucknall North by-election where his party gained the seat from Conservative MP for Mansfield, Ben Bradley.

This success was followed at the Sutton Junction and Harlow Wood by-election in December 2018, where Ashfield Independents gained the seat with 82% of the vote.

In 2018 Zadrozny was once again selected Leader of Ashfield District Council after eight councillors defected from the incumbent Labour administration. Highly promoted policies include the construction of a new leisure centre with swimming pools for Kirkby-in-Ashfield, restoration of the town clock and community spring clean events.

The 2019 Ashfield District Council election saw Ashfield Independents gain 30 of the 35 seats up for election, as well as gaining the borough council seat of Brinsley in the neighbouring Borough of Broxtowe.

In July 2019, Zadrozny declared his intention to stand for election to Parliament for the Ashfield constituency. In the 2010 general election, as the Liberal Democrat candidate, he narrowly missed winning the seat.

Personal life

Zadrozny is single and still lives in Kirkby-in-Ashfield.

In 2015 he was arrested and charged historic child sex offences. Three years later the case was dropped after the Crown Prosecution presented no evidence in the trial.