2023 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council election

2023 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council election

←  2022 4 May 2023 2024  →
30 of 90 seats on City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council 46 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Susan Hinchcliffe Rebecca Poulsen Party Labour Conservative Last election 18, 46.0% 9, 24.5% Seats before 52 20 Seats won 22 4 Seats after 56 16 Seat change 4 5 Popular vote 56,916 29,093 Percentage 47.0 24.0 Swing 1.0 0.5   Third party Fourth party   Leader Matt Edwards Brendan Stubbs Party Green Liberal Democrats Last election 1, 12.8% 2, 10.6% Seats before 6 6 Seats won 3 1 Seats after 8 5 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 17,607 10,353 Percentage 14.5 8.5 Swing 1.7 2.1
The winner of each seat by party in the 2023 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council election
Leader before election Susan Hinchcliffe Labour Leader after election Susan Hinchcliffe Labour

In British politics, the 2023 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in West Yorkshire, England. This was on the same day as other local elections across England. Labour retained its majority on the council.

Background

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. Bradford was a district of the West Yorkshire metropolitan county. ^[1] 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. ^[2]

Since its formation, Bradford has been variously under Labour control, Conservative control and no overall control. Councillors have predominantly been elected from the Labour Party, Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats. The Green Party gained their first councillors on Bradford Council in 2002 and following these elections became the joint third largest group on the council.

Labour had regained control of the council from no overall control in the 2014 council election, gaining one seat to hold 46 out of 90 seats on the council. The Labour Party maintained its majority on the council in subsequent elections. Of the 30 seats contested in the previous election in 2022, Labour won nineteen on 44.1% of the vote, the Conservatives won six seats on 25.3% of the vote, the Green Party won three seats on 14.3% of the vote, and the Liberal Democrats and independents won one seat each on 8.1% and 6.8% of the vote respectively. ^[3]

Positions up for election in 2023 were last elected in 2019. In that election, eighteen Labour councillors, nine Conservative councillors, two Liberal Democrat councillors, and one Green councillor were elected. ^[4] Labour retained control of the council at this election. ^{[5] [6]}

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. ^{[7] [8]} 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 Bradford 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 2022 election			Before 2023 election
Party		Seats	Party		Seats
	Labour	52		Labour	52
	Conservative	21		Conservative	20
	Green	6		Green	6
	Liberal Democrats	6		Liberal Democrats	6
	Independent	5		Independent	6

Results summary

2023 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	22	4	73.3	34	56	62.2	56,916	47.0	1.0
	Conservative	4	5	13.3	12	16	17.8	29,093	24.0	0.5
	Green	3	2	10.0	5	8	8.9	17,607	14.5	1.7
	Liberal Democrats	1	1	0.33	4	5	5.6	10,353	8.5	2.1
	Independent	0		0.0	5	5	5.6	5,073	4.2	3.8
	Yorkshire	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	1,408	1.2	0.8
	Reform UK	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	443	0.3	New
	British Democrats	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	140	0.1	0.5
	SDP	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	37	0.0	New
	TUSC	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	35	0.0	New

Results by ward

Asterisks denote incumbent councillors seeking re-election. ^[9]

Baildon

Baildon (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mike Pollard*	2,153	44.5	2.0
	Labour	Peter Ashton	2,003	41.4	15.7
	Green	Carl Dunk	244	5.0	2.2
	Liberal Democrats	David Wilkinson	231	4.8	5.6
	Reform UK	Phil Moncaster	211	4.4	New
Majority			150	3.1	18.0
Rejected ballots			13
Turnout			4,842
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bingley

Bingley (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Susan Fricker	2,796	46.9	10.1
	Conservative	Geoff Winnard*	2,365	39.7	0.1
	Green	Rachael Drucquer	558	9.4	1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Russell	239	4.0	1.6
Majority			431	7.2	4.2
Rejected ballots			24
Turnout			5,958
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Bingley Rural

Bingley Rural (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Sullivan*	2,457	46.8	9.0
	Labour	Abdul Malik	1,211	23.0	3.2
	Independent	Cath Bacon	960	18.3	New
	Green	Brian Newham	432	8.2	8.3
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Baranowski	194	3.7	4.2
Majority			1,246	23.8	12.2
Rejected ballots			13
Turnout			5,254
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bolton and Undercliffe

Bolton and Undercliffe (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Suhail Choudhry*	2,064	60.0	15.1
	Liberal Democrats	Suzanne Lubenko	620	18.0	17.0
	Conservative	Sukhchain Singh	296	8.6	1.9
	Green	Bruce Gulland	168	4.9	4.6
	Yorkshire	Wendy Barras	165	4.8	New
	Reform UK	Sid Bourn	97	2.8	New
	TUSC	Tom Gibson	35	1.0	New
Majority			1,444	42.0	32.1
Rejected ballots			8
Turnout			3,445
	Labour hold		Swing

Bowling and Barkerend

Bowling and Barkerend (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Imran Khan*	2,540	75.0	6.1
	Liberal Democrats	Howard Middleton	285	8.4	3.0
	Conservative	Muhammad Wasim Ul Fazal	242	7.1	7.5
	Green	Andy Rickford	176	5.2	5.8
	Yorkshire	Kyle Wood	143	4.2	New
Majority			2,255	66.6	12.3
Rejected ballots			17
Turnout			3,386
	Labour hold		Swing

Bradford Moor

Bradford Moor (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Zafar Iqbal*	2,607	56.0	26.0
	Liberal Democrats	Mohammed Thair	1,727	37.1	30.9
	Conservative	Asif Iqbal	192	4.1	4.0
	Yorkshire	William Grant	68	1.5	New
	Green	Andy Wood	63	1.4	2.2
Majority			880	18.9	55.0
Rejected ballots			34
Turnout			4,657
	Labour hold		Swing

City

City (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shakeela Lal*	2,513	79.1	3.3
	Conservative	Amena Patel	348	11.0	5.8
	Green	Mateusz Tadych	317	10.0	3.5
Majority			2,165	68.1	7.8
Rejected ballots			13
Turnout			3,178
	Labour hold		Swing

Clayton and Fairweather Green

Clayton and Fairweather Green (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Carol Thirkill*	2,071	69.3	8.9
	Conservative	Kate Lawton	574	19.2	4.8
	Green	Susan May	228	7.6	2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Steven Cotterill	115	3.8	0.6
Majority			1,497	50.1	13.7
Rejected ballots			16
Turnout			2,988
	Labour hold		Swing

Craven

Craven (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Janet Russell	2,831	49.5	30.4
	Conservative	Eddie Irving	1,838	32.1	4.5
	Labour	Andrew Knight	700	12.2	10.5
	Yorkshire	Peter Kaye	280	4.9	1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Mann	73	1.3	3.0
Majority			993	17.4	12.5
Rejected ballots			8
Turnout			5,722
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing

Eccleshill

Eccleshill (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Parsons	1,447	43.1	10.5
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Knox*	1,173	34.9	5.3
	Conservative	Wajid Rasool	467	13.9	6.4
	Yorkshire	Jonathan Barras	152	4.5	2.0
	Green	Sophie Vanicat	121	3.6	0.3
Majority			274	8.2	0.6
Rejected ballots			20
Turnout			3,360
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Great Horton

Great Horton (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tariq Hussain*	2,374	70.2	5.2
	Conservative	Sangeeta Khan	350	10.4	0.5
	Independent	Harry Boota	253	7.5	New
	Liberal Democrats	Sarah Moses	157	4.6	1.7
	Green	Alexander Sykes	136	4.0	4.5
	Yorkshire	William Grant	110	3.3	New
Majority			2,204	59.8	5.7
Rejected ballots			11
Turnout			3,380
	Labour hold		Swing

Heaton

Heaton (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mohammed Amran*	2,821	58.4	16.6
	Green	Khalid Mahmood	1,769	36.6	22.5
	Conservative	Saika Khan	167	3.5	3.5
	Liberal Democrats	Allah Ali	74	1.5	2.4
Majority			1,052	21.8	39.1
Rejected ballots			24
Turnout			4,831
	Labour hold		Swing

Idle and Thackley

Idle and Thackley (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jeanette Sunderland*	2,686	63.7	1.7
	Labour	Gareth Logan	805	19.1	5.3
	Conservative	John Robertshaw	404	9.6	3.9
	Yorkshire	Lara Barras	161	3.8	New
	Green	Tess Lawrence	159	3.8	1.8
Majority			1,881	44.6	3.6
Rejected ballots			12
Turnout			4,215
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Ilkley

Ilkley (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Nunns	2,655	41.9	5.5
	Green	Ros Brown	2,495	39.3	13.9
	Labour	Michael Baldwin	977	15.4	4.4
	Liberal Democrats	Caroline Jones	214	3.4	15.0
Majority			160	2.6	8.4
Rejected ballots			26
Turnout			6,341
	Conservative hold		Swing

Keighley Central

Keighley Central (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Amjad Zaman	3,125	49.3	9.5
	Conservative	Javaid Akhtar	2,284	36.0	13.8
	Independent	Zafar Ali*	580	9.2	New
	Green	Alyson Telfer	178	2.8	3.8
	Independent	Leo Robinson	85	1.3	New
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Allon	84	1.3	2.5
Majority			841	13.3	3.3
Rejected ballots			41
Turnout			6,336
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Keighley East

Keighley East (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lisa Robinson	2,015	51.2	3.0
	Conservative	Martin Crangle	1,425	36.2	10.6
	Green	Duncan Hunnisett	270	6.9	9.1
	Liberal Democrats	John Briggs	186	4.7	0.5
	SDP	Alexander Vann	37	1.0	New
Majority			590	15.0	12.6
Rejected ballots			36
Turnout			3,933
	Labour hold		Swing

Keighley West

Keighley West (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julie Lintern*	1,507	47.3	0.2
	Conservative	Laura Kelly	1,447	45.5	19.7
	Liberal Democrats	Steven Spoerry	127	4.0	1.8
	Green	James Whitaker	102	3.2	New
Majority			60	1.8	19.5
Rejected ballots			10
Turnout			3,183
	Labour hold		Swing

Little Horton

Little Horton (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Taj Salam*	2,763	85.7	0.1
	Yorkshire	Darren Longhorn	138	4.3	New
	Conservative	Muhammad Afzal	127	3.9	0.8
	Green	Nurjahan Ali Arobi	104	3.2	0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Tariq Mahmood	91	2.8	2.6
Majority			2,625	81.4	1.0
Rejected ballots			23
Turnout			3,223
	Labour hold		Swing

Manningham

Manningham (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Safina Kauer	2,502	50.9	38.0
	Independent	Muhammed Islam	2,153	43.8	New
	Green	Anne Fetherston	169	3.4	1.9
	Conservative	Khalid Anjum	89	1.8	1.6
Majority			349	7.1	76.5
Rejected ballots			22
Turnout			4,913
	Labour hold		Swing

Queensbury

Queensbury (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alex Mitchell	1,206	35.3	8.1
	Independent	Robert Hargreaves	1,042	30.5	New
	Conservative	Adam Paterson	849	24.9	7.5
	Green	Eithne Dodwell	229	6.7	3.9
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Whitrick	86	2.5	5.8
Majority			164	4.8	0.4
Rejected ballots			10
Turnout			3,412
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Royds

Royds (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Angela Tait*	1,713	63.9	21.3
	Conservative	Emmanuel Ekoumba Bayap	592	22.1	5.2
	Green	Ian Sharp	251	9.4	2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Ines Riach	124	4.6	1.8
Majority			1,121	41.8	26.2
Rejected ballots			13
Turnout			2,680
	Labour hold		Swing

Shipley

Shipley (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Kevin Warnes*	3,204	64.6	9.3
	Labour	Vera Martin	1,238	24.9	7.1
	Conservative	Paul Golding	423	8.5	0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Errington	98	2.0	0.1
Majority			1,966	39.7	16.4
Rejected ballots			33
Turnout			4,963
	Green hold		Swing

Thornton and Allerton

Thornton and Allerton (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sue Duffy*	2,224	61.8	5.5
	Conservative	Jac Morton	743	20.7	6.5
	Green	John Whitaker	322	9.0	2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Anthea Griffiths	307	8.5	3.1
Majority			1,481	41.1	12.0
Rejected ballots			10
Turnout			3,596
	Labour hold		Swing

Toller

Toller (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Folia Shaheen*	3,190	82.4	5.6
	Green	Brian Ford	354	9.1	5.4
	Conservative	Shaheen Iqbal	326	8.4	4.8
Majority			2,836	73.3	10.1
Rejected ballots			31
Turnout			3,870
	Labour hold		Swing

Tong

Tong (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Ursula Sutcliffe	1,546	59.8	29.6
	Labour	Kausar Mukhtar*	650	25.2	5.1
	Conservative	Paul Turpin	221	8.6	1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Elliott	92	3.6	1.3
	Yorkshire	Baz Inman	75	2.9	New
Majority			896	34.6	34.5
Rejected ballots			10
Turnout			2,584
	Green gain from Labour		Swing

Wharfedale

Wharfedale (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christopher Steele	1,718	39.4	18.1
	Conservative	Peter Cochrane	1,692	38.8	8.6
	Green	Chris Turner	534	12.2	1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jamie Needle	420	9.6	8.0
Majority			26	0.8	25.3
Rejected ballots			15
Turnout			4,364
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Wibsey

Wibsey (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Ralph Berry*	1,470	55.9	10.2
	Conservative	Nick Peterken	548	20.8	2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Boulton	375	14.3	7.9
	Green	Michael Daw	120	4.6	0.8
	Yorkshire	Bob Buxton	116	4.4	New
Majority			922	35.1	10.2
Rejected ballots			10
Turnout			2,629
	Labour hold		Swing

Windhill and Wrose

Windhill and Wrose (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Susan Hinchcliffe*	1,834	60.4	10.6
	Conservative	Wendy Harrison	753	24.8	5.8
	Liberal Democrats	Gillian Thorne	239	7.9	1.1
	Green	John Wood	212	7.0	2.0
Majority			1,081	35.6	4.8
Rejected ballots			18
Turnout			3,038
	Labour hold		Swing

Worth Valley

Worth Valley (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rebecca Poulsen*	2,412	59.2	2.1
	Labour	Ash Joomun Whitehead	1,290	31.7	13.1
	Green	Hawarun Hussain	187	4.6	9.5
	Liberal Democrats	Kay Kirkham	182	4.5	1.6
Majority			1,122	27.5	15.2
Rejected ballots			17
Turnout			4,071
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wyke

Wyke (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sarah Ferriby*	1,542	56.0	10.4
	Conservative	Malcolm McLean	654	23.8	5.2
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Hall	154	5.6	0.1
	British Democrats	James Lewthwaite	140	5.1	19.4
	Reform UK	Ian Walker	135	4.9	New
	Green	Darren Parkinson	128	4.6	1.3
Majority			888	32.2	11.1
Rejected ballots			14
Turnout			2,753
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. Local Government in England and Wales: A Guide to the New System. London: HMSO. 1974. p. 7. ISBN   0-11-750847-0.
2. "West Yorkshire devolution deal". GOV.UK. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
3. "Election results by wards, 5 May 2022". bradford.moderngov.co.uk. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
4. "Election results by wards, 2 May 2019". bradford.moderngov.co.uk. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
5. "Local election results 2023: Labour continue to dominate in West Yorkshire". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
6. Sandeman, Kit (5 May 2023). "Labour hold Bradford Council: Local election results 2023". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
7. "Local government structure and elections". GOV.UK. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
8. "Election Timetable in England" (PDF).
9. "Notice of election - District Council Elections 4 May 2023". www.bradford.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 April 2023.