In the previous council election in 2021, Labour maintained its control of the council, holding 28 seats after the election. The Conservatives won more of the seats that were up for election, but remained the main opposition with 16 seats. The remaining seats were held by the Liberal Democrats and independent councillors.
Background
Result of the council election when these seats were last contested in 2018Result of the most recent council election in 2021
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 2021, nineteen seats were up for election: 17 as part of the normal thirds cycle and two concurrent by-elections to fill vacant seats. The Conservatives made gains at the expense of the Liberal Democrats and independents to come first in seats and share of the vote, winning nine of the nineteen seats up for election on 39.0% of the vote, while Labour won eight with 37.3% of the vote and the Liberal Democrats won the remaining two seats with 11.3% of the vote. The Green Party received 8.3% of the vote but won no seats. Labour maintained its majority on the council.[3]
A Labour councillor for the Park ward, Mohammad Naeem, died in July 2021. Around the same time, the independent councillor for Ryburn, Rob Holden, resigned. By-elections to fill both vacancies were held in September 2021, with the Labour candidate Shazad Fazal holding Park and the Conservative candidate Felicity Issott gaining Ryburn.[4] The former Conservative councillor Roger Taylor, who had been suspended from his party in 2019 for making Islamophobic social media posts, was later permanently suspended from his party.[5][6]
Positions up for election in 2022 were last elected in 2018. In that election, Labour won ten seats, the Conservatives won four, the Liberal Democrats won two and independent candidates won one seat.[7]
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.[8][9] 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 Calderdale 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.
Campaign
The Conservative group leader, Steven Leigh, said he was aiming to gain seats with the purpose of replacing the Labour council after the 2023 election.[10]
Note that due to by-elections being run in some wards, electors in those wards had two votes. This means the change in percentage of votes is not representative of the true swing.
Council Composition
Prior to the election the composition of the council was:
↓
28
16
5
2
Labour
Conservative
Lib Dem
Ind
After the election the composition of the council was:
The incumbent was Jacob Cook for the Conservative Party.
The percentage change is expressed compared to the 2018 election when the late Marilyn Greenwood was elected for the Liberal Democrats. Jacob Cook was elected as the second councillor in 2021.
The incumbent was Colin Raistrick, an Independent, who stepped down at this election.[12]
The swing between Conservative & Labour is 6.8% to Conservative.
The incumbent was Mohammed Fazal for the Labour Party.
The second place candidate in 2018 was Surraya Bibi standing as an Independent, having previously been part of the Labour party. The swing from Independent to Labour was 21.6%.
The incumbent was Steven Leigh for the Conservative Party.
Second place in 2018 was Robert Holden standing as an Independent. The swing in the box is expressed between Conservative & Labour. The swing from Independent to Conservative was 21.5%.
