Winning back Kirklees Council control 'important priority for Labour', says Keir Starmer

Speaking during a recent visit to Dewsbury, Sir Keir said: “I want to show what a difference it makes to have a Labour council on your side. We have to make our case.”

The council is currently under no overall control but with one-third of the council’s 69 seats up for election, Labour needs to win two extra seats to take a

majority.

Currently Labour hold 33 seats, the Conservatives have 19, the Liberal Democrats have nine seats and the Greens and Holme Valley Independents three seats each, with two other independents.

Of the 23 seats up for election this year, Labour hold 11, the Conservatives six, the Liberal Democrats four, the Holme Valley Independents one and the Greens one.

Labour lost control of the council in November 2020 after three councillors quit the party in protest at the party’s national treatment of Jeremy Corbyn.

Sir Keir said: “I know we have got to earn every vote. I’m not taking anything for granted.

“That is why I am here.

“Part of making our case is making absolutely clear that we take the worries and concerns of people here in Kirklees very seriously and we have got practical answers to the challenges they have.

“It is a five-week campaign – anybody who is fed up with the Government’s pathetic response to the energy crisis has got an opportunity to send a message to the Government and vote Labour.”

Three seats – all of which are currently held by Labour – are being contested in Dewsbury, which Sir Keir visited earlier this month.

Cathy Scott, who is currently cabinet member for housing and democracy, is defending her Dewsbury East seat for Labour, with Masood Ahmed defending Dewsbury South.

It is expected to be a two-horse race in Dewsbury East between Labour and the Conservatives. Tory candidate Keith Mallinson has been active on local issues such as roads and housing but Labour Cabinet member Cathy Scott has performed well in the past, beating rival – and now Dewsbury MP – Mark Eastwood in 2018.

In Dewsbury West the party has selected Ammar Anwar as its candidate due to long-serving councillor Mumtaz Hussain, a former Mayor of Kirklees, stepping down.

Key “battleground” wards in the Kirklees Council area include Lindley, Dewsbury East, Heckmondwike, Golcar, Holme Valley North, Denby Dale and Colne Valley.

Several councillors are standing down this year, including veteran Labour man Peter McBride in Dalton as well as the Conservatives’ Nigel Patrick in Holme Valley South and another respected Labour member, Harpreet Uppal, in Ashbrow.

Three Labour Cabinet members – Viv Kendrick and Will Simpson along with Cathy Scott – are defending their seats, along with Conservative group leader David Hall, Conservative scrutiny chairman Liz Smaje and Lib Dem group leader John Lawson.

Read more:

Local elections 2022: What is at stake in my area of Yorkshire?.

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