2024 Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council election

2024 Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council election

←  2023 2 May 2024 2026 →
17 of 51 seats on Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council 26 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	34.8 ( 21.4)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jane Scullion Steven Leigh Paul Bellenger Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Luddendenfoot Ryburn Greetland and Stainland Last election 28 seats, 44.1% 15 seats, 29.3% 6 seats, 12.6% Seats won 29 11 6 Seat change 2 4   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Unknown None Unknown Party Green Independent Workers Party Last election 2 seats, 12.1% 0 seats, 0.6% N/A Seats won 3 1 1 Seat change 1
Results by ward
Leader before election Jane Scullion Labour Leader after election Jane Scullion Labour

The 2024 Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council election was held on 2 May 2024, alongside the other local elections across the United Kingdom being held on the same day. The council remained under Labour majority control.

Background

Results from 2021, when these seats were last up for election

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. Calderdale 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]

Calderdale Council was under no overall control with Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Labour leaders until the Labour Party achieved a majority of seats in the 2019 election, when they gained four seats to hold 28 of the council's 51 seats. In the most recent election in 2023, seventeen seats were up for election. Labour won ten seats, the Conservatives won four seats, Liberal Democrats won two seats and the Greens won one seat. ^[3]

Seats up for election in 2024 were last elected in 2021. These elections were originally scheduled for 2020, but were delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[4] In that election, the Conservatives won nine seats, Labour won eight, and the Liberal Democrats won two. Labour retained its majority on the council at this election. ^[5]

Electoral process

The council elects its councillors in thirds, with a third being up for election for three consecutive years and no election in the fourth year. ^{[6] [7]} The election used 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 Calderdale aged 18 or over were 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 took place from 07:00 to 22:00 on election day, and voters were able to apply for postal votes or proxy votes in advance of the election.

Council results

Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council's composition following the 2024 election.

• Turnout: 52,112
• Electorate: 151,597

2024 Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council election [8]
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	10	2	58.8	20	29	56.9	21,418	41.1	+3.8
	Conservative	3	4	17.6	5	11	21.6	13,585	26.1	-12.9
	Liberal Democrats	2		11.8	4	6	11.8	5,556	10.7	-0.6
	Independent	0		0.0	1	1	2.0	835	1.6	-1.7
	Green	1	1	5.9	2	3	5.9	8,311	16.0	+7.7
	Workers Party	1	1	5.9	0	1	2.0	1,643	3.2	New
	Freedom Alliance	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	139	0.3	+0.2

Council composition

Prior to the election the composition of the council was:

↓

27	14	6	2	1	1
Labour	Conservative	Lib Dem	Green	Ind	Vac

After the election the composition of the council was:

↓

29	11	6	3	1	1
Labour	Conservative	Lib Dem	Green	Ind	WPB

After 2023 election			Before 2024 election			After 2024 election
Party		Seats	Party		Seats	Party		Seats
	Labour	28		Labour	27		Labour	29
	Conservative	15		Conservative	14		Conservative	11
	Liberal Democrats	6		Liberal Democrats	6		Liberal Democrats	6
	Green	2		Green	2		Green	3
	Independent	0		Independent & vacant	2		Independent & other	2

Changes between 2023 & 2024:

• November 2023: Guy Beech (Conservative, Illingworth & Mixenden) resigned; seat remained vacant until the May 2024 elections. ^[9]
• February 2024: Rahat Khan (Labour, Park) resigned from the Labour Party and sits as an independent. ^[10]

Ward results

Incumbent councillors are marked with an asterisk. ^[11]

Brighouse

Brighouse (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geraldine Carter	1,163	40.8	−10.9
	Labour	Frank Darnley	1,078	37.8	+9.5
	Green	Kim Atkinson	445	15.6	+5.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jennie Rigg	126	4.4	+0.9
Majority			85	3.0	−13.7
Rejected ballots			40	1.4
Turnout			2,852	34.6	−10.7
Registered electors			8,249
	Conservative hold		Swing	10.2

Calder

Calder (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Josh Fenton-Glynn*	3,008	67.0	+1.0
	Green	Mark Stanley	638	14.2	+4.9
	Conservative	Christopher Lee	574	12.8	−5.4
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Wadsworth	222	4.9	+0.6
Majority			2,370	52.7	+4.9
Rejected ballots			53	1.2
Turnout			4,495	48.7	−6.7
Registered electors			9,239
	Labour hold		Swing	1.95

Elland

Elland (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Hunt	786	30.9	−5.8
	Labour	Khuram Majid	700	27.5	−7.3
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Phillips	574	22.5	+1.3
	Green	Barry Crossland	446	17.5	+10.8
Majority			86	3.4	+1.5
Rejected ballots			40	1.6
Turnout			2,546	28.7	−9.2
Registered electors			8,878
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.75

Greetland and Stainland

Greetland and Stainland (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Bellenger*	1,526	50.6	−8.2
	Conservative	Alex Greenwood	806	26.7	−6.4
	Labour	Mark Pitkethly	420	13.9	−0.2
	Green	Jacquelyn Haigh	240	8.0	−1.6
Majority			720	23.9	+23.2
Rejected ballots			26	0.9
Turnout			3,018	35.5	−16.9
Registered electors			8,503
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	0.9

Hipperholme and Lightcliffe

Hipperholme and Lightcliffe (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Robinson*	1,846	57.0	−10.5
	Labour	Sam Ackroyd	934	28.8	+5.9
	Green	Catherine Graham	299	9.2	+2.5
	Liberal Democrats	Nikki Stocks	122	3.8	+1.5
Majority			912	28.2	−16.4
Rejected ballots			37	1.2
Turnout			3,238	35.2	−8.6
Registered electors			9,208
	Conservative hold		Swing	8.2

Ilingworth and Mixenden

Illingworth and Mixenden (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shane Taylor	1,168	49.5	+10.3
	Conservative	Stephen Padgett	640	27.1	−15.3
	Green	Laura Beesley	169	7.2	+4.1
	Independent	Seán Loftus	143	6.1	+4.4
	Independent	Sara Gaunt	135	5.7	New
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Proctor	79	3.3	+1.7
Majority			528	22.4	19.2
Rejected ballots			25	1.1
Turnout			2,359	25.3	−6.6
Registered electors			9,319
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	12.8

Luddendenfoot

Luddendenfoot (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jane Scullion*	1,862	57.7	+12.1
	Conservative	Jill Smith-Moorhouse	731	22.6	−13.2
	Liberal Democrats	Christine Bampton-Smith	307	9.5	−0.3
	Green	Kate Sweeny	295	9.1	+0.9
Majority			1,131	35.0	+25.3
Rejected ballots			33	1.0
Turnout			3,228	40.5	−7.1
Registered electors			7,965
	Labour hold		Swing	12.65

Northowram and Shelf

Northowram and Shelf (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Elaine Hey	2,275	67.6	+43.7
	Conservative	John Vaughan	737	21.9	−36.2
	Labour	Allen Slingsby	327	9.7	−6.1
Majority			1,538	45.7	+11.5
Rejected ballots			28	0.8
Turnout			3,367	37.0	−4.4
Registered electors			9,106
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing	39.95

Ovenden

Ovenden (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Danielle Durrans*	919	55.3	+10.1
	Conservative	Anne Baines	358	21.5	−15.9
	Liberal Democrats	Sean Bamforth	188	11.3
	Green	Finn Jensen	166	9.9	+4.6
Majority			561	33.7	+25.9
Rejected ballots			32	1.92
Turnout			1,663	19.7	−5.9
Registered electors			8,422
	Labour hold		Swing	13.0

Park

Park (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Workers Party	Shakir Saghir	1,643	43.9	New
	Green	Sabir Hussain	953	25.4	+22.2
	Labour	Sadia Zaman	758	20.2	−40.4
	Liberal Democrats	Samuel Jackson	190	5.1	+2.5
	Conservative	Naveed Khan	164	4.4	−28.7
Majority			690	18.4	−9.1
Rejected ballots			38	1.0
Turnout			3,746	39.1	−2.3
Registered electors			9,576
	Workers Party gain from Labour		Swing	9.25

Rastrick

Rastrick (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Alan Judge	1,317	45.4	+15.6
	Conservative	Joseph Matthews	1,151	39.6	−18.6
	Green	Andrew Bramley	237	8.2	−0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Bernardette Stancliffe	165	5.7	+3.2
Majority			166	5.7	−22.7
Rejected ballots			34	1.2
Turnout			2,904	35.0	−8.4
Registered electors			8,300
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	17.1

Ryburn

Ryburn (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Leah Webster	1,554	48.2	+27.2
	Conservative	Robert Thornber*	1,270	39.4	−7.7
	Green	Cordelia Prescott	197	6.1	+0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Rosemary Tatchell	165	5.1	+2.6
Majority			284	8.8	−15.9
Rejected ballots			41	1.27
Turnout			3,227	36.0	−6.2
Registered electors			8,962
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	17.45

Skircoat

Skircoat (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Ann Kingstone*	1,932	51.1	+1.8
	Conservative	Oliver Gibson	950	25.1	−10.0
	Green	Robert Orange	558	14.8	−3.9
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Holdsworth	309	8.2	+2.0
Majority			982	26.0	+11.8
Rejected ballots			34	0.9
Turnout			3,783	39.1	−6.1
Registered electors			9,685
	Labour hold		Swing	5.9

Sowerby Bridge

Sowerby Bridge (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Adam Wilkinson*	1,702	58.5	+6.2
	Conservative	Mark Edwards	695	23.9	−12.9
	Green	David Booth	295	10.1	+3.2
	Liberal Democrats	Diana Harris	167	5.7	+2.5
Majority			1,007	34.6	+19.2
Rejected ballots			50	1.7
Turnout			2,909	33.0	−6.5
Registered electors			8,820
	Labour hold		Swing	9.55

Todmorden

Todmorden (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Diana Tremayne*	1,919	60.9	+9.4
	Conservative	Brian Carter	525	16.7	−5.0
	Green	Kieran Turner	495	15.7	+6.2
	Liberal Democrats	Abdul Kye	160	5.1	−9.5
Majority			1,394	44.2	+14.5
Rejected ballots			52	1.7
Turnout			3,151	35.1	−6.5
Registered electors			8,983
	Labour hold		Swing	7.2

Town

Town (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Kelly Thornham	1,160	47.0	−2.7
	Conservative	Vishal Gupta	839	34.0	+1.1
	Green	Elliot Hey	329	13.3	+1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Garry Prashad	103	4.2	−0.9
Majority			321	13.0	−3.8
Rejected ballots			36	1.5
Turnout			2,467	26.9	−4.0
Registered electors			9,173
	Labour hold		Swing	1.9

Warley

Warley (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ashley Evans*	1,153	36.5	−5.7
	Labour	Ben Jancovich	660	20.9	−10.4
	Independent	Sohail Ashfaq	557	17.6	New
	Conservative	Stephen Baines	350	11.1	−9.9
	Green	Katie Witham	274	8.7	+3.8
	Freedom Alliance	Martin Davies	139	4.4	New
Majority			493	15.6	+4.7
Rejected ballots			26	0.8
Turnout			3,159	34.3	−4.7
Registered electors			9,209
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	2.35

Changes 2024-2026

Affiliation changes

• Dan Sutherland, councillor for Illingworth & Mixenden ward and last elected for the Labour party in 2022, defected to Reform UK on 24 February 2025. ^[12]

By-elections

Calder by-election: 24 October 2024

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jonathan Timbers	1,009	36.3	–30.7
	Green	Kieran Turner	784	28.2	+14.0
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Wadsworth	407	14.6	+9.7
	Independent	Scott Borrows	316	11.4	N/A
	Conservative	Brian Carter	251	9.0	–3.8
	SDP	Jim McNeill	12	0.4	N/A
Majority			225	8.1	–44.6
Turnout			2,779	29.3	–19.4
	Labour hold		Swing	22.4

The incumbent was Josh Fenton-Glynn for Labour who resigned after being elected MP for Calder Valley in the 2024 United Kingdom general election. ^[13]

Skircoat by-election: 8th May 2025 ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform UK	Paul Hawkaluk	1,392	36.8	N/A
	Labour	Dave Mendes Da Costa	1,059	28.0	–23.1
	Green	Roseanne Marie Sweeney	566	15.0	+0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Alexander Gow	411	10.9	+2.7
	Conservative	Vishal Gupta	355	9.4	–15.7
Majority			333	8.8
Turnout			3,791	38.5
	Reform UK gain from Labour

The incumbent was Mike Barnes for Labour who decided to step down. ^[15]

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. Healey, Shawna (5 May 2023). "Local elections 2023: Here are the full results for who has been elected to join Calderdale Council - see who won where you live". Halifax Courier. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
4. "Coronavirus: English local elections postponed for a year". BBC News. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
5. "Calderdale result - Local Elections 2021". BBC News. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
6. "Local government structure and elections". GOV.UK. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
7. "Election Timetable in England" (PDF).
8. "Election of Local Councillors 2024 - 02/05/2024". Election results. Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale . Retrieved 3 May 2024.
9. Boothroyd, David (29 December 2023). "Wakey day for one councillor". www.localcouncils.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
10. Boothroyd, David (1 March 2024). "Horsham switchover". LocalCouncils.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
11. Greenwood, John (4 May 2024). "Calderdale local election results 2024". Halifax Courier. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
12. "Labour Calderdale councillor defects to Reform UK". Halifax Courier . 24 February 2025. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
13. "Calderdale councillor prompts by-election by stepping down to become MP". Halifax Courier. 14 September 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
14. Skircoat Ward By Election - 08/05/2025. calderdale.gov.uk.
15. "Election in store for Halifax residents as Calderdale councillor announces he is resigning". Halifax Courier. 14 March 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.