EXCLUSIVE: Council Leader seat in Hillsborough “on a knife-edge” says senior Labour cabinet member
By Emily Atkinson
May 7, 2021

Council leader Bob Johnson’s Hillsborough seat looks set to swing over to the Green Party, a senior Labour councillor has said.

Green Party candidate Christine Gilligan Kubo may take the north-western ward this afternoon.

The current Cabinet Member for Business and Investment, Mazher Iqbal, said: “Bob’s seat is on a knife-edge.”

Lib Dem candidate for Darnall, Adil Mohammed, earlier expressed similar sentiments.

“The current Labour leader Bob Johnson pretty vulnerable at the moment,” he told Sheffield Wire this morning.

Losing the seat would be a huge blow to the currently-governing party, who are under performing nationally. The Green Party look strong elsewhere in the city, having confidently held City Ward, and gaining Nether Edge and Sharrow Vale, and Gleadless Valley, from Labour.

Hillsborough was won in 2019 by Labour with 1,659 votes, followed in second by the Green Party, taking 1,127 votes. Cllr Johnson last contested his seat in 2016, winning it with 2,998 votes.

More updates on this story to come.