There were only 10 votes in it, but that was enough for the Liberal Democrats to inch past Reform, in a by-election that follows a string of similar local council setbacks since Keir Starmer walked into No.10 only four months ago.
Labour fell to a distant third place with 650 votes in the Woodhouse by-election, after a recount was requested on the basis of the slim difference between the Lib Dem candidate Willis James Marshall and Reform UK’s Andy Hizzard, who received 1,008 votes on a 24% turnout.
The Lib Dems showed up early to the count, with their local leader, Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, present throughout the night. It was a sign of confidence from a party that has made a habit of pulling off by-election upsets.
Mr Marshall, a University of Sheffield (UoS) student and former Labour member, now joins the second largest grouping on Sheffield City Council having won 1018 votes.
He has pledged to listen to constituents and address local issues such as potholes.
Reflecting on the campaign, Mr Marshall noted the recent cut in winter fuel allowance as a particular bone of contention for voters he spoke with.
That cause was also taken up by the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition and its candidate Josh Crapper who scored 56 votes, as they hoped to build on their campaign to request that the council extend the household support fund to cover the 75,000 Sheffield pensioners who have lost their allowance.
The Tory candidate, Samuel Hemsley, another UoS student and former employee at BAE Systems, took the opportunity to highlight Labour’s loss of working-class support.
He gained 153 votes in total, just behind the Greens’ Hannah Kate Nicklin on 168.
Saj Ghafur’s campaign had the public backing of major figures from the local and national Labour party.
Five of Sheffield MPs – including former Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, who publicly resigned this morning – were pictured with the candidate, alongside the leader of Sheffield City Council, Councillor Tom Hunt.
With Cllr Hunt taking to his phone once the final result became clear, it raises further questions as to whether a pattern is emerging nationwide, as Labour’s working-class voting base exits left, right and centre.
As Lib Dem councillors cheered their newest member, for some the result signals an altogether different milestone.
Reform scored their highest result for a Sheffield seat despite what supporters referred to as a short campaign.
The populist party had stood aside for candidates from the Social Democratic Party (SDP) – an organisation that blends centre-left economic ideas with a right-wing “anti-woke” platform – in this year’s general election, and so the strength of its voting bloc remains relatively untested.
The SDP’s candidate for Woodhouse, Matthew Leese, tallied up 33 votes.
Yesterday’s by-election took place following the death in September of the independent councillor Paul Wood, aged 67.
