Live:
Latest updates from Sheffield & Barnsley Local Elections 2024Summary
- Reporters: Amy Britton and Kate McCusker
- Results should be coming in soon!
- Liberal Democrat, Shaffaq Mohammed, is “disappointed” over losing two seats in Sheffield
- Both seats in Firth Park ward are taken by Labour
- Only Conservative Party seat is taken by Labour in Stockbridge
- Labour maintain their majority hold in Barnsley, while Sheffield still remains hung with no party being able to take enough seats
- Sheffield now joins Manchester and Liverpool in not electing a single Conservative councillor at this year’s local elections
It has been an exciting day of ups and downs for all of the political parties involved in the local elections in Sheffield and Barnsley.
The biggest shock of the day was the Conservative Party being completely wiped out of Sheffield. Labour gained the Tories only seat in the Stockbridge ward.
Sheffield’s Liberal Democrat leader, Shaffaq Mohammed, is “disappointed” that his party has lost two seats in the area but the Liberal Democrats remain as the second largest party in Sheffield.
For Barnsley, the biggest blow came for the Conservative Party, after they lost their seat in Penistone East. The seat had been held by the Tories for almost 20 years by John Wilson, the former leader of the Barnsley Conservatives.
Ahead of the South Yorkshire Mayoral results tomorrow, Oliver Coppard is feeling quite confident that he will be able to maintain his position.
Mayor Coppard said: “People want to see change happening, that we’re taking the decisions that lead to them having better lives.
“That’s what government should be about. That’s what leadership should be about in politics. I hope that’s what we’ve done. I’m hopeful that that will be an endorsement of what we’ve done over the last two years and what we want to do over the next four years as well.”
Huge thanks to our Sheffield reporters, Peter and Ollie, and our Barnsley reporters, Richard, David, and Jack, for keeping us up to date with live reactions from the count!
After a long day, Amy and Kate are signing out!
That’s a wrap!!
A whirlwind day at Sheffield’s Local Election count sees no party take overall control, but Labour gains offer an insight into some of the key issues that will be at hand come the general election.
Labour increased its control of the council winning six additional seats, including the Conservative’s only Sheffield council seat in Stocksbridge and Upper Don, sending an additional shot across the bow to the Conservatives on what has already been a wretched day across the nation for Rishi Sunak’s beleaguered party.
The count also saw upsets for Labour’s closest rivals the Liberal Democrats, who lost Ecclesall ward to exuberant celebration from underdog Green candidate Peter Gilbert and losing two seats overall.
The Green party failed to capitalise on fatigue of Labour’s majority in some parts of the city and lost some seats alongside gaining some, retaining 14 seats.
Shaffaq Mohammad, leader of the Liberal Democrats Group in Sheffield, was philosophical after the mixed-bag of his party’s results, thanking colleagues for their efforts while highlighting the similar losses of safe seats by Labour and the Greens. He said: “For all three leaders we’ve got to go away now and reflect on what happened.”
On if today’s result will affect the way the council is run his response was stoic: “It’s going to be as you were if I’m being honest.”
With no overall control it seems likely that the incumbent leader of the council Tom Hunt will remain in place after confirming his intention to run for the position again with Labour remaining the biggest party.
Today was not wholly positive for Labour, losing safe-seat Darnall to independent candidate Qais Al-Ahdal who campaigned on a pro-Palestine ticket.
This defeat has been a theme of Labour’s day across the country, losing control of Oldham council after losing seats to independent candidates with a pro-Palestine platform.
Cllr Hunt said: “I know that many people in this city are deeply upset and care passionately about what is happening in Palestine. We have been on record for many months now calling for a ceasefire, calling for humanitarian aid to be allowed to flow freely into Gaza and calling for the resumption of a peace process for a two-state solution.
“The shift in policy that I want to see is from the Conservative government who need to be doing a lot more to put pressure through the international community to call for that resumption of the peace process for a two-state solution.”
Reflecting on the day overall Cllr Hunt was bullish about Labour’s prospects. He said: “It’s clearly been a good day for the Labour Party across the country and a terrible day for the Conservatives.
“Bring on the general election.”
Labour makes statement wins but Sheffield remains without a majority party
Sheffield City Council leader Tom Hunt has told Sheffield Wire that he intends to put himself forward to be council leader again on 15 May.
Negotiations over who will take on the role are pending following the news that no party retains overall control of Sheffield City Council for the fourth year running.
He said: “I will be putting myself forward to be the leader of Sheffield City Council and continuing with our work to deliver better public transport for this city, making sure that our city centre continues to improve, delivering on new affordable homes and helping people who are struggling with this Tory cost of living crisis.
“These are my priorities and I hope that my colleagues from across parties will back me on that.”
The Walkley cllr added: “It´s clearly been a good day for the Labour Party across the country and a terrible day for the Conservatives. Bring on the General Election.”
“Bring on the General Election” says Hunt
Tom Hunt on Palestine
New Green Party councillor for Sheffield’s Ecclesall ward Peter Gilbert has told the Wire that residents are ready for “real action on the climate crisis” after his party took the seat from the Liberal Democrats in today’s local elections.
Cllr Gilbert won the seat with 3147 votes to Lib Dem Roger Davison’s 2751.
He said: “It’s been a Lib Dem monopoly for so long. The people of Ecclesall have been desperate for change – you see that in the results of the last few elections with people voting for Labour to get rid of the Lib Dems. But now they´ve seen that they don´t have to settle for second best and that they can just get what they want with the Green Party.
“I think Ecclesall is crying out for better public transport and true, real action on the climate crisis,” he added. “People trust the Greens to give them the facts and let them make up their own minds.”
“Ecclesall has been crying out for change” says new Green councillor
Reporter Peter Spriggs spoke to Mr Hunt about Labour’s successes and failures in Sheffield’s local elections.
Tom Hunt on Labour’s “promising” results
By Richard McLaughlin and David Hall
The Labour Party held its majority in the Barnsley local elections today, winning a total of 17 wards out of 21.
While Labour did not built upon its existing 48 council seats, the party took control of Penistone East from the Conservative Party, a massive blow for the Tories.
Councillor John Roberts took control of the vacant seat after John Wilson, the former Leader of Barnsley Conservatives, retired after almost 20 years of service, winning by just 156 votes. It was a crucial seat for the Tories to hold and one they felt they could not afford to lose heading into the day.
Councillor Steve Bullock, the newly elected Kingstone candidate, said: “I’m chuffed. We have had some knockback but we are a team and it works. We need to be a bigger team and get more councillors in and I presume that’s what the plan will be.”
The Liberal Democrats gained one seat on the council to increase its total to four.
Newly elected Councillor Leyla Nayeri said: “It’s an amazing feeling. I am so thankful for everybody in the ward that’s gone out and voted, supported the Lib Dems and the team that we are. It’s incredible.”
The results in Barnsley today are indicative of the rest of the country, as the Conservatives lost over 230 council seats.
Leader of the Council, Sir Stephen Houghton CBE, said: “Labour can’t be complacent but I think it’s clear the public want change, the Conservatives’ days are over.
“I’m grateful to the people of Barnsley and we will continue to drive Barnsley forward.”
Looking ahead, the mayoral election results will be counted tomorrow, with Labour’s Oliver Coppard looking to continue his term.
Mayor Coppard said: “People want to see change happening, that we’re taking the decisions that lead to them having better lives.
“That’s what government should be about. That’s what leadership should be about in politics. I hope that’s what we’ve done. I’m hopeful that that will be an endorsement of what we’ve done over the last two years and what we want to do over the next four years as well.”
Final report
After losing two seats in today’s local elections, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats Group & Group Spokesperson for the Strategy and Resources Policy Committee, Shaffaq Mohammed, is understandably upset with the results.
He said: “Clearly it is disappointing that we’ve lost two seats. The council still remains under no overall control so we are still the second largest group but we’d have liked to hold all seats.
“This election was in the backdrop of the General Election warm up. Leaflets were sent out to vote for Labour to send the Tories a message when there were no Tories to beat and unfortunately, we’ve been on the wrong end of that result.”
When asked about how the results in Barnsley and Sheffield could reflect the result of the impending General Election, Mr Mohammed expressed that it is not looking good for the Conservative Party.
He said: “It’s not going to be great for the Tories. There are no more Tories left in Sheffield. They only had one seat and now that’s gone.”
Mr Mohammed went on to assure locals that there will be no major changes to how Sheffield City Council will be run. He said: “It’s most likely to be as it was. There’s unlikely to be much change. Labour don’t have an overall control. The Greens are exactly as they were. We are down two but I don’t think that changes much in terms of committee seats so we’ll see what happens.”
Sheffield’s Lib Dems are “disappointed” over two seat loss
Sheffield has joined Manchester and Liverpool in not electing a single Conservative councillor at this year’s local elections.
Tory party ousted from Sheffield council
Phil Lofts holds Labour in Old Town, Barnsley, and that is a wrap on the Barnsley count!
Old Town – Labour hold
It was a huge day for Labour in the Metrodome, gaining 16 seats to take a council majority of 48 seats to 15. Its majority council was declared well before most of the election results had been announced in Barnsley.
A horrendous day for the Conservatives saw them lose one of its only seats on the council. Cllr Robert Barnard, Penistone East, remains as the only Tory councillor.
The Liberal Democrats increased its total number of councillors by one, with four seats total taken on the day.
Despite some traction nationally, Reform UK failed to gain a seat.
More reaction to follow.
Where Barnsley stands at the end of the day
Voter turnout in Sheffield was 31.87%
Summary
- Reporters: Amy Britton and Kate McCusker
- Results should be coming in soon!
- Firth Park ward is electing two councillors following the resignation of Abtisam Mohamed
- With no party having a majority hold over Sheffield, Labour has been heavily campaigning to turn enough wards to achieve more stable control
- Ollie Potts and Peter Spriggs are reporting live from Sheffield
- David Hall, Richard McLaughlin and Jack Hunter are reporting live from Barnsley
It has been an exciting day of ups and downs for all of the political parties involved in the local elections in Sheffield and Barnsley.
The biggest shock of the day was the Conservative Party being completely wiped out of Sheffield. Labour gained the Tories only seat in the Stockbridge ward.
Sheffield’s Liberal Democrat leader, Shaffaq Mohammed, is “disappointed” that his party has lost two seats in the area but the Liberal Democrats remain as the second largest party in Sheffield.
For Barnsley, the biggest blow came for the Conservative Party, after they lost their seat in Penistone East. The seat had been held by the Tories for almost 20 years by John Wilson, the former leader of the Barnsley Conservatives.
Ahead of the South Yorkshire Mayoral results tomorrow, Oliver Coppard is feeling quite confident that he will be able to maintain his position.
Mayor Coppard said: “People want to see change happening, that we’re taking the decisions that lead to them having better lives.
“That’s what government should be about. That’s what leadership should be about in politics. I hope that’s what we’ve done. I’m hopeful that that will be an endorsement of what we’ve done over the last two years and what we want to do over the next four years as well.”
Huge thanks to our Sheffield reporters, Peter and Ollie, and our Barnsley reporters, Richard, David, and Jack, for keeping us up to date with live reactions from the count!
After a long day, Amy and Kate are signing out!
That’s a wrap!!
A whirlwind day at Sheffield’s Local Election count sees no party take overall control, but Labour gains offer an insight into some of the key issues that will be at hand come the general election.
Labour increased its control of the council winning six additional seats, including the Conservative’s only Sheffield council seat in Stocksbridge and Upper Don, sending an additional shot across the bow to the Conservatives on what has already been a wretched day across the nation for Rishi Sunak’s beleaguered party.
The count also saw upsets for Labour’s closest rivals the Liberal Democrats, who lost Ecclesall ward to exuberant celebration from underdog Green candidate Peter Gilbert and losing two seats overall.
The Green party failed to capitalise on fatigue of Labour’s majority in some parts of the city and lost some seats alongside gaining some, retaining 14 seats.
Shaffaq Mohammad, leader of the Liberal Democrats Group in Sheffield, was philosophical after the mixed-bag of his party’s results, thanking colleagues for their efforts while highlighting the similar losses of safe seats by Labour and the Greens. He said: “For all three leaders we’ve got to go away now and reflect on what happened.”
On if today’s result will affect the way the council is run his response was stoic: “It’s going to be as you were if I’m being honest.”
With no overall control it seems likely that the incumbent leader of the council Tom Hunt will remain in place after confirming his intention to run for the position again with Labour remaining the biggest party.
Today was not wholly positive for Labour, losing safe-seat Darnall to independent candidate Qais Al-Ahdal who campaigned on a pro-Palestine ticket.
This defeat has been a theme of Labour’s day across the country, losing control of Oldham council after losing seats to independent candidates with a pro-Palestine platform.
Cllr Hunt said: “I know that many people in this city are deeply upset and care passionately about what is happening in Palestine. We have been on record for many months now calling for a ceasefire, calling for humanitarian aid to be allowed to flow freely into Gaza and calling for the resumption of a peace process for a two-state solution.
“The shift in policy that I want to see is from the Conservative government who need to be doing a lot more to put pressure through the international community to call for that resumption of the peace process for a two-state solution.”
Reflecting on the day overall Cllr Hunt was bullish about Labour’s prospects. He said: “It’s clearly been a good day for the Labour Party across the country and a terrible day for the Conservatives.
“Bring on the general election.”
Labour makes statement wins but Sheffield remains without a majority party
Sheffield City Council leader Tom Hunt has told Sheffield Wire that he intends to put himself forward to be council leader again on 15 May.
Negotiations over who will take on the role are pending following the news that no party retains overall control of Sheffield City Council for the fourth year running.
He said: “I will be putting myself forward to be the leader of Sheffield City Council and continuing with our work to deliver better public transport for this city, making sure that our city centre continues to improve, delivering on new affordable homes and helping people who are struggling with this Tory cost of living crisis.
“These are my priorities and I hope that my colleagues from across parties will back me on that.”
The Walkley cllr added: “It´s clearly been a good day for the Labour Party across the country and a terrible day for the Conservatives. Bring on the General Election.”
“Bring on the General Election” says Hunt
Tom Hunt on Palestine
New Green Party councillor for Sheffield’s Ecclesall ward Peter Gilbert has told the Wire that residents are ready for “real action on the climate crisis” after his party took the seat from the Liberal Democrats in today’s local elections.
Cllr Gilbert won the seat with 3147 votes to Lib Dem Roger Davison’s 2751.
He said: “It’s been a Lib Dem monopoly for so long. The people of Ecclesall have been desperate for change – you see that in the results of the last few elections with people voting for Labour to get rid of the Lib Dems. But now they´ve seen that they don´t have to settle for second best and that they can just get what they want with the Green Party.
“I think Ecclesall is crying out for better public transport and true, real action on the climate crisis,” he added. “People trust the Greens to give them the facts and let them make up their own minds.”
“Ecclesall has been crying out for change” says new Green councillor
Reporter Peter Spriggs spoke to Mr Hunt about Labour’s successes and failures in Sheffield’s local elections.
Tom Hunt on Labour’s “promising” results
By Richard McLaughlin and David Hall
The Labour Party held its majority in the Barnsley local elections today, winning a total of 17 wards out of 21.
While Labour did not built upon its existing 48 council seats, the party took control of Penistone East from the Conservative Party, a massive blow for the Tories.
Councillor John Roberts took control of the vacant seat after John Wilson, the former Leader of Barnsley Conservatives, retired after almost 20 years of service, winning by just 156 votes. It was a crucial seat for the Tories to hold and one they felt they could not afford to lose heading into the day.
Councillor Steve Bullock, the newly elected Kingstone candidate, said: “I’m chuffed. We have had some knockback but we are a team and it works. We need to be a bigger team and get more councillors in and I presume that’s what the plan will be.”
The Liberal Democrats gained one seat on the council to increase its total to four.
Newly elected Councillor Leyla Nayeri said: “It’s an amazing feeling. I am so thankful for everybody in the ward that’s gone out and voted, supported the Lib Dems and the team that we are. It’s incredible.”
The results in Barnsley today are indicative of the rest of the country, as the Conservatives lost over 230 council seats.
Leader of the Council, Sir Stephen Houghton CBE, said: “Labour can’t be complacent but I think it’s clear the public want change, the Conservatives’ days are over.
“I’m grateful to the people of Barnsley and we will continue to drive Barnsley forward.”
Looking ahead, the mayoral election results will be counted tomorrow, with Labour’s Oliver Coppard looking to continue his term.
Mayor Coppard said: “People want to see change happening, that we’re taking the decisions that lead to them having better lives.
“That’s what government should be about. That’s what leadership should be about in politics. I hope that’s what we’ve done. I’m hopeful that that will be an endorsement of what we’ve done over the last two years and what we want to do over the next four years as well.”
Final report
After losing two seats in today’s local elections, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats Group & Group Spokesperson for the Strategy and Resources Policy Committee, Shaffaq Mohammed, is understandably upset with the results.
He said: “Clearly it is disappointing that we’ve lost two seats. The council still remains under no overall control so we are still the second largest group but we’d have liked to hold all seats.
“This election was in the backdrop of the General Election warm up. Leaflets were sent out to vote for Labour to send the Tories a message when there were no Tories to beat and unfortunately, we’ve been on the wrong end of that result.”
When asked about how the results in Barnsley and Sheffield could reflect the result of the impending General Election, Mr Mohammed expressed that it is not looking good for the Conservative Party.
He said: “It’s not going to be great for the Tories. There are no more Tories left in Sheffield. They only had one seat and now that’s gone.”
Mr Mohammed went on to assure locals that there will be no major changes to how Sheffield City Council will be run. He said: “It’s most likely to be as it was. There’s unlikely to be much change. Labour don’t have an overall control. The Greens are exactly as they were. We are down two but I don’t think that changes much in terms of committee seats so we’ll see what happens.”
Sheffield’s Lib Dems are “disappointed” over two seat loss
Sheffield has joined Manchester and Liverpool in not electing a single Conservative councillor at this year’s local elections.
Tory party ousted from Sheffield council
Phil Lofts holds Labour in Old Town, Barnsley, and that is a wrap on the Barnsley count!
Old Town – Labour hold
It was a huge day for Labour in the Metrodome, gaining 16 seats to take a council majority of 48 seats to 15. Its majority council was declared well before most of the election results had been announced in Barnsley.
A horrendous day for the Conservatives saw them lose one of its only seats on the council. Cllr Robert Barnard, Penistone East, remains as the only Tory councillor.
The Liberal Democrats increased its total number of councillors by one, with four seats total taken on the day.
Despite some traction nationally, Reform UK failed to gain a seat.
More reaction to follow.