2022 Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council election

2022 Kirklees Council election

5 May 2022
23 of 69 seats on Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council 35 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Shabir Pandor David Hall John Lawson Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats Last election 33 seats, 35.9% 19 seats, 38.0% 9 seats, 10.2%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Andrew Cooper Charles Greaves Party Green Independent Last election 3 seats, 10.4% 5 seats, 4.6%
Map of the results
council control before election No overall control Subsequent council control Labour

The 2022 Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022. One third of councillors—23 out of 69—on Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council were elected. The election took place alongside other local elections across the United Kingdom.

Following the previous council election in 2021, no party held a majority of seats. Labour held 33, and ran a minority administration. The Conservatives held 19, the Liberal Democrats held 9, the Greens held 3 and independent councillors and councillors for local parties held the remaining five.

Background

Result of the council election when these seats were last contested in 2018

Result of the most recent council election in 2021

The Local Government Act 1972 created a two-tier system of metropolitan counties and districts covering Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, the West Midlands, and West Yorkshire starting in 1974. Kirklees was a district of the West Yorkshire metropolitan county. The Local Government Act 1985 abolished the metropolitan counties, with metropolitan districts taking on most of their powers as metropolitan boroughs. The West Yorkshire Combined Authority was established in 2014 and began electing the mayor of West Yorkshire in 2021.

Kirklees Council has generally been under no overall control or Labour control since its creation, with the Conservatives controlling the council between 1976 and 1979. The council was under no overall control from 1999 until the 2018 election, when Labour gained two seats to achieve an overall majority on the council. Labour's majority narrowed, with the party holding 35 seats following the 2019 election. Three Labour councillors resigned from their party in November 2020, citing national issues and linked by media to the suspension of the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. In the most recent council election in 2021, the council remained in no overall control with Labour winning 12 seats on 35.9% of the vote, the Conservatives winning 9 seats on 38.0% of the vote, the Liberal Democrats winning 2 seats on 10.2% of the vote, the Green Party winning one seat on 10.4% of the vote and the Heavy Woollen District Independents winning one seat with 0.4% of the vote.

Positions up for election in 2022 were last elected in 2018. In that election, 12 Labour councillors were elected, as were seven Conservatives, three Liberal Democrats, one Green and one independent.

Campaign

The Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that Almondbury, Colne Valley, Dalton, Denby Dale, Dewsbury East, Golcar, Heckmondwike, Holme Valley North, and Lindley wards were "battlegrounds", and that the Liberal Democrats and Green Party were unlikely to support Labour if they needed to work with other parties having lost seats.

Electoral process

The council elects its councillors in thirds, with a third being up for election every year for three years, with no election in the fourth year. The election will take place by first-past-the-post voting, with wards generally being represented by three councillors, with one elected in each election year to serve a four-year term.

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in Kirklees aged 18 or over will be entitled to vote in the election. People who live at two addresses in different councils, such as university students with different term-time and holiday addresses, are entitled to be registered for and vote in elections in both local authorities. Voting in-person at polling stations will take place from 07:00 to 22:00 on election day, and voters will be able to apply for postal votes or proxy votes in advance of the election.

Previous council composition

After 2021 election			Before 2022 election
Party		Seats	Party		Seats
	Labour	33		Labour	33
	Conservative	19		Conservative	19
	Liberal Democrats	9		Liberal Democrats	9
	Independent	5		Independent	5
	Green	3		Green	3

Results summary

2022 Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	14	3	60.9	22	36	52.2	44,786	40.9	+5.0
	Conservative	5	1	21.7	13	18	26.1	34,895	31.9	-6.1
	Liberal Democrats	3	1	13.1	5	8	11.6	14,409	13.2	+3.0
	Independent	0	1	0.0	4	4	5.8	1,849	1.7	-2.3
	Green	1		4.3	2	3	4.3	10,244	9.4	-1.0
	Workers Party	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	2,563	2.3	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	236	0.2	N/A
	Freedom Alliance	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	170	0.2	-0.1
	UKIP	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	106	0.1	N/A
	Yorkshire	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	68	0.1	-0.3
	Reform UK	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	63	0.1	±0.0

Ward results

Almondbury

Almondbury

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alison Munro	2,238	48	+8
	Conservative	Maria Ackroyd	1,275	27	+4
	Labour	Barbara Jones	840	18	−12
	Green	Peter Taylor	286	6	+2
Majority			963	21
Turnout			4,639	34.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Ashbrow

Ashbrow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fran Perry	2,315	57	+7
	Conservative	Dafydd Daniel	1,109	27	−8
	Green	Brenda Smithson	447	11	+1
	Liberal Democrats	Manjit Singh	213	5	0
Majority			1,206	30
Turnout			4,084	29.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Batley East

Batley East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Adam Zaman	2,170	45	−23
	Workers Party	Abdul Daji	1,611	33	N/A
	Conservative	Keiron Gavaghan	734	15	−7
	Green	Simon Duffy	201	4	−2
	Liberal Democrats	David Shepherd	152	3	0
Majority			559	12
Turnout			4,868	37
	Labour hold		Swing

Batley West

Batley West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gwen Lowe	2,713	64	+7
	Conservative	Mohammed Laher	1,087	25	−4
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Long	233	5	+2
	Green	Jack Senior	233	5	−1
Majority			1,626	39
Turnout			4,266	30.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Birstall & Birkenshaw

Birstall & Birkenshaw

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Liz Smaje	2,104	53	+2
	Labour	Julie Smith	1,370	35	+12
	Liberal Democrats	Louise Walsh	254	6	+1
	Green	Tahir Akram	240	6	−3
Majority			734	18
Turnout			3,968	30.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cleckheaton

Cleckheaton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Lawson	2,650	61.1	+12.4
	Conservative	Piers Briggs	1,085	25.0	−9.7
	Labour	Khalid Patel	600	13.8	+2.0
Majority			1,565	36.1
Turnout			4,335	32.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	11.1

Colne Valley

Colne Valley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Harry McCarthy	2,509	45.5	+8.3
	Conservative	Donna Bellamy	1,988	36.0	+3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Jake Marchington	542	9.8	−13.6
	Green	Julia Norman	375	6.8	±0.0
	UKIP	Melanie Roberts	106	1.9	N/A
Majority			521	9.5
Turnout			5,520	40.4
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	2.5

Crosland Moor & Netherton

Crosland Moor & Netherton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jo Lawson	2,460	56.2	+5.5
	Conservative	Isaac Barnett	1,035	23.7	−6.2
	Liberal Democrats	Suzanne Barraclough	358	8.2	+1.6
	Green	Chris Green	341	7.8	−0.6
	Independent	Steve Bradbury	182	4.2	+1.2
Majority			1,425	32.5
Turnout			4,376	32.9
	Labour hold		Swing	5.9

Dalton

Dalton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Tyler Hawkins	1,941	51.8	+11.6
	Conservative	Jason Easingwood	1,180	31.5	−4.7
	Green	Clare Walters	357	9.5	−4.3
	Liberal Democrats	Dominic Black	270	7.2	−2.6
Majority			761	20.3
Turnout			3,748	29.9
	Labour hold		Swing	8.2

Denby Dale

Denby Dale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Will Simpson	2,879	49.8	+10.0
	Conservative	Vicky Rank	2,283	39.5	−8.4
	Liberal Democrats	Craig Armistead	264	4.6	+1.0
	Green	Michael Shaw	259	4.5	−2.9
	Freedom Alliance	Jonathan Tilt	96	1.7	N/A
Majority			596	10.3
Turnout			5,781	43.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	9.2

Dewsbury East

Dewsbury East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Cathy Scott	1,934	48.9	+5.7
	Conservative	Keith Mallinson	1,307	33.1	+2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Dan Woodlock	311	7.9	+4.5
	Monster Raving Loony	Sir Archibald Earl 'Eaton	236	6.0	N/A
	Green	Gideon Richards	164	4.1	+0.6
Majority			627	15.8
Turnout			3,952	28.1
	Labour hold		Swing	1.6

Dewsbury South

Dewsbury South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Masood Ahmed	3,069	70.7	+27.5
	Conservative	Sean Guy	907	20.9	−9.6
	Green	Albert Parker	217	5.0	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Dennis Hullock	147	3.4	±0.0
Majority			2,162	49.8
Turnout			4,340	32.3
	Labour hold		Swing	18.6

Dewsbury West

Dewsbury West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ammar Anwar	3,268	64.7	+23.3
	Conservative	Sajid Hussain	1,328	26.3	−1.8
	Liberal Democrats	John Rossington	229	4.5	+1.6
	Green	Nicholas Whittingham	229	4.5	+1.7
Majority			1,940	38.4
Turnout			5,054	36.4
	Labour hold		Swing	12.6

Golcar

Golcar

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Graham Turner	1,744	38.1	+6.1
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Iredale	1,695	37.1	+5.2
	Conservative	Trevor Bellamy	751	16.4	−8.1
	Green	Nina Roberts	309	6.8	−3.1
	Freedom Alliance	Miri Finch	74	1.6	−0.1
Majority			49	1.0
Turnout			4,573	33.0
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	0.5

Greenhead

Greenhead

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mohan Sokhal	3,179	66.1	+8.4
	Conservative	Eileen Marchant	674	14.0	−6.8
	Green	Heather Peacock	639	13.3	−2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Harrison	321	6.7	+1.2
Majority			2,505	52.1
Turnout			4,813	34.7
	Labour hold		Swing	7.6

Heckmondwike

Heckmondwike

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Viv Kendrick	1,985	43.5	−1.7
	Conservative	Itrat Ali	1,317	28.9	−13.1
	Workers Party	Zahid Kahut	952	20.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Josie Pugsley	309	6.8	+2.5
Majority			668	14.6
Turnout			4,563	34.0
	Labour hold		Swing	5.7

Holme Valley North

Holme Valley North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tony McGrath	1,739	33.1	+0.2
	Independent	Terry Lyons	1,667	31.7	−3.1
	Labour	Ben Lockley	1,214	23.1	+1.1
	Green	Samuel Midgley	364	6.9	+0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Kingsley Hill	206	3.9	+0.9
	Reform UK	Susan Laird	63	1.2	N/A
Majority			72	1.4
Turnout			5,253	39.3
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing	1.7

Holme Valley South

Holme Valley South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Moses Crook	3,016	46.8	+11.0
	Conservative	Damian Brook	2,710	42.0	−4.9
	Green	Darryl Gould	453	7.0	±0.0
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew McCaig	266	4.1	−2.3
Majority			306	4.8
Turnout			6,445	42.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	8.0

Kirkburton

Kirkburton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bill Armer	2,450	49.6	−4.7
	Green	Richard Burton	1,690	34.2	±0.0
	Labour	Soyeb Yusuf	670	13.6	+3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Waheed Anwar	132	2.7	+1.6
Majority			760	15.4
Turnout			4,942	39.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.4

Lindley

Lindley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Cahal Burke	3,062	49.3	+13.7
	Conservative	David Heathcote	2,069	33.3	−6.4
	Labour	Gulfam Asif	844	13.6	−5.0
	Green	Ian Vincent	233	3.8	−2.4
Majority			993	16.0
Turnout			6,208	40.2
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	10.1

Liversedge & Gomersal

Liversedge & Gomersal

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Hall	2,364	56.6	−1.6
	Labour	Jude McKaig	1,274	30.5	+5.4
	Green	Linda Simmons	300	7.2	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	David Snee	237	5.7	+1.7
Majority			1,090	26.1
Turnout			4,175	29.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.5

Mirfield

Mirfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Vivien Lees-Hamilton	3,020	54.0	−15.1
	Labour	Geoff Kernan	1,808	32.3	+12.4
	Green	Catherine Whittingham	547	9.8	+1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Bird	214	3.8	+1.2
Majority			1,212	21.7
Turnout			5,589	35.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	13.8

Newsome

Newsome

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Karen Allison	2,360	60.6	−0.4
	Labour	Mohammed Safdar	984	25.3	−0.6
	Conservative	John Roberts	379	9.7	−1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Wilkinson	106	2.7	+1.1
	Yorkshire	Bikatshi Katenga	68	1.7	N/A
Majority			1,376	35.3
Turnout			3,897	30.8
	Green hold		Swing	0.1