Calderdale local election results: Reform rampant to take control of council

Reform UK has won a majority on Calderdale Council, with counting in Halifax going on into the night.

The party has reached the 28 seats required to control the council outright. Reform Coun Dan Sutherland told the BBC that people "are desperate for change".

The party is set to have a meeting tomorrow to decide on a leader. Labour had previously controlled the council, but have fallen behind Reform, along with the Greens.

Reform won 34 of the 54 seats up for grabs across the 18 wards in the borough, giving the party an overall majority.

Labour is the next biggest party with eight seats, followed closely by the Green Party with seven.

The Lib Dems and Independents have two seats each, with the remaining seat won by the Workers Party.

The Conservatives lost all of their seats on the council.

Current Mayor of Calderdale Steven Leigh (Conservative) failed to defend his seat.

UPDATE FROM JOHN GREENWOOD, LDR

It was a day – and a night – where Reform UK ran rampant to take overall control of Calderdale Council in a rare “all out” election which saw 54 seats in 18 wards up for grabs.

Reform set off at a blistering pace in the first nine wards – the count took place in two sessions of nine wards each in the afternoon and evening – and with 28 the basic winning line, had chalked up 19 seats by the end of the first half.

In the end, their 34 seats gives them a majority of 14 over all other parties.

It saw two group leaders, the retiring Mayor and the Mayor-elect for 2026-27 ousted.

The Conservatives were wiped out, the party not returning a single councillor.

Labour were reduced to a rump, with the Greens gaining some ground on their turf.

The all-out election was due to a Boundary Commission recommendation that Calderdale needed an extra seat to reflect population changes – the last was 21 years ago and Calderdale usually elects a third at a time.

This also means that as well as the new ward, other wards were renamed and even ones that kept the name might not have exactly the same electorate, hence each seat being a win.

But some were winning more than others and Reform took all three seats in Brighouse ward, Darren Commons, Mark Kimberlin and Steve Mycroft comfortably ahead and unseating Conservative group leader Howard Blagbrough and another sitting councillor on the old council, Brenda Monteith, in the process.

The party also saw seats chalked up in Halifax, beginning with Reform group leader Dan Sutherland from the old council returning in Illingworth and Mixenden with colleagues Nikki Kelly and Andrew Tagg – an ousted Labour member of the old council was Mayor-elect Shane Taylor.

In Halifax Town ward, Reform’s Joseph Gibbons, Keith Ingle and Jay Shaban ousted former Town ward Labour representatives Joe Thompson and Kelly Thornham.

Reform took all three seats in Elland, where Peter Hunt from the old council will be joined by James Cook and Nigel Hatfield, Labour’s David Veitch from the old council finishing fourth.

Another major upset came in Greetland ward where what has been a Liberal Democrat heartland saw all three seats go to Reform, Tom Garnett, Phil Pringle and Ruth Walker unseating Liberal Democrat group leader on the old authority, Paul Bellenger, and colleagues Christine Prashad and Sue Holdsworth.

Victories in what had been, like Brighouse, a Conservative heartland, Hipperholme and Lightcliffe saw Connor Dent, Tim Holden and Val Mycroft take the seats for Reform, beaten Conservatives including former leader, and retiring Mayor of Calderdale, Steven Leigh.

Green victorious early on saw group leader on the old council, Martin Hey returned with long-standing colleague Dan Wood in Northowram and Shelf – but Reform picked up the third seat, David Banks finishing in second place.

The Greens also saw Hannah Mickleburgh-Benn and Margot Puddepha oust Labour rivals Jonathan Timbers and Ben Jancovich in Hebden Bridge and Todmorden East, but Labour’s Sarah Courtney, a Cabinet member on the old council, topped the poll.

For Labour, Luddenden Foot ward was a rare chance to smile, when Scott Patient and Katie Kimber, from the old council, were joined by Kate MacDonald to make it a clean sweep, fending off Reform’s challenge.

The second half of the count saw Reform add three more councillors with a returning Paul Hawkaluk joined by Mederic Payne and Stephen Padgett in the new ward of Salterhebble, Southowram and Skircoat Green.

The party also took Ovenden, where Paul Dale, Stephen Hodgson and Gordon Thorpe were comfortably clear, and Rastrick saw Simon Briggs, David Small and Jackie Wilson returned for Reform.

Mike Payne and Andrew Varley took two of the Sowerby Bridge seats for Reform but Labour stalwart Adam Wilkinson completed the roster for the ward.

Labour took the lion’s share of the seats in Wainhouse, where Ann Kingstone and Dave Mendes Da Costa were elected alongside Reform’s Cathy Featherstone.

Liberal Democrat stalwart Ashley Evans led the poll in Warley and party colleague Chris Wadsworth was elected alongside him, but Reform notched up another seat through Irena Corkish.

The Greens scored a notable victory in Todmorden West, Jamie Furlong, Sarah Goodfellow and Oscar Seville-Leach defeating a Labour trio including two Cabinet members, Silvia Dacre and Diana Tremayne.

Park ward saw representatives of three different groups returned – Independent Osman Khalil topped the poll, with Mohammed Shazad Fazal returned for Labour and Shakir Saghir back for the Workers Party.

Reform bagged two of the Ryburn seats through Chris Green and Alex Greenwood, with Independent Leah Webster topping the poll as the night closed out.

The final tally is: Reform UK, 34 seats; Labour, eight seats; Greens, seven seats; Liberal Democrats, two seats; Independents, two seats; Workers Party, one seat.

Brighouse

Darren Commons – Reform UK

Stephen Mycroft – Reform UK

Mark Kimberlin – Reform UK

Elland

James Cook – Reform UK

Nigel Hatfield – Reform UK

Peter Hunt – Reform UK

Greetland

Thomas Ian Garnett – Reform UK

Ruth Walker – Reform UK

Philip Geoffrey John Pringle – Reform UK

Halifax Town

Joseph Gibbons – Reform UK

Keith Ingle – Reform UK

Jay Shaban – Reform UK

Hebden Bridge and Todmorden East

Sarah Courtney – Labour

Hannah Louise Mickleburgh-Benn – Green

Margot Puddepha – Green

Hipperholme ad Lightcliffe

Connor Dent – Reform UK

Timothy Holden – Reform UK

Valerie Mycroft – Reform UK

Illingworth and Mixenden

Nikki Kelly – Reform UK

Daniel Sutherland – Reform UK

Andrew James Tagg – Reform UK

Luddenden Foot

Scott Patient – Labour

Katie Kimber – Labour

Kate MacDonald – Labour

Northowram and Shelf

Martin Hey – Green

David Banks – Reform UK

Dan Wood – Green

Ovenden

Paul Dale – Reform UK

Stephen Paul Hodgson – Reform UK

Gordon Thorpe – Reform UK

Park

Osman Khalil – Independent

Mohammed Shazad Fazal – Labour Party

Shakir Saghir – Workers Party

Rastrick

Simon Briggs – Reform UK

David Small – Reform UK

Jackie Wilson – Reform UK

Ryburn

Leah Elizabeth Webster – Independent

Alex Greenwood – Reform UK

Christopher John Green – Reform UK

Salterhebble, Southowram and Skircoat

Paul Hawkaluk – Reform UK

Stephen Padgett – Reform UK

Mederic Robert George Payne – Reform UK

Sowerby Bridge

Andrew Grant Varley – Reform UK

Mike Payne – Reform UK

Adam David Wilkinson – Labour Party

Todmorden West

Jamie Furlong – Green

Sarah Louise Goodfellow – Green

Oscar Seville-Leach – Green

Wainhouse

Ann Kingstone – Labour Party

Dave Mendes Da Costa – Labour Party

Cathy Featherstone – Reform UK

Warley

Ashley Evans – Liberal Democrats

Irena Corkish – Reform UK

Chris Wadsworth – Liberal Democrats