Jason Zadrozny

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. He 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.

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.[2] 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.[3]

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 his 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.[4] In 2016, Zadrozny ran for the elected position of the Nottinghamshire 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).

In 2017 he was elected to Nottinghamshire County Council for the new Ashfields Division as an Ashfield Independent.[5] His party fielded five candidates in that election and won all five. In 2017, he ran in the Hucknall North council by-election, where his party gained the seat after the Conservative incumbent was elected to Westminster and resigned his local council seat. He followed this success in the Sutton Junction and Harlow Wood by-election in December 2018 where his party won with 82% of the vote.[6]

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,[7] restoration of the town clock[8] and community spring clean events.[9]

In the 2010 UK general election, Zadrozny stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate for the seat of Ashfield, losing to Labour's Gloria de Piero by just 192 out of 48,196 votes cast in one of the closest results in the UK. It was the second biggest swing of the General Election.[10] He stood again for the seat in the 2019 election, running as an independent.[11] He came second with 27.6% of the vote.[12]

Zadrozny has stated that he voted for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union in the 2016 membership referendum and has advocated leaving the EU as soon as possible.[13]

Zadrozny lives in Kirkby-in-Ashfield. In 2015 he was arrested and charged with historic child sex offences; three years later the case was dropped after the Crown Prosecution Service presented no evidence.[14]