Kirklees elections: The current state of the council as voters prepare to head to the polls
With the countdown on to Kirklees’ local elections, we take a look at the current state of the council.
Every one of the council’s 69 seats is up for grabs when voters head to the polls on Thursday, May 7, and a total of 380 candidates are competing for votes.
This year is also the first that new ward boundaries will be in play, with the areas many elected members represent now changed.
Notably, Dalton now covers Huddersfield town centre, and Paddock has left the Greenhead ward. The wards of Colne Valley, Crosland Moor and Netherton, Golcar and Newsome are no more, being renamed or made part of brand new wards.
Under the new arrangements, there are still a total of 23 wards, with three councillors to represent each.
Currently, the local authority is run by Labour as a minority administration under Coun Carole Pattison (Greenhead) as Leader, and Coun Moses Crook (Holme Valley South) as Deputy Leader.
The Labour Party holds a third of all seats (23) going into this year’s elections, with the Tories having 16, Independent members 11, Liberal Democrats nine, Greens four, Community Alliance three, Community Independents two, and one vacancy in the Lindley ward following the death of former councillor Cahal Burke.
Several Kirklees councillors will be standing down this time, with 12 members announced at the last meeting of Full Council. This included seven from Labour, two Conservatives, two Lib Dems and one independent councillor.
Councillors are elected each year for a four-year term, with no election held in every fourth year, as was the case for 2025.
Kirklees Council was originally created by the 1972 Local Government Act, which came into effect in 1974. This act streamlined the country’s system of local authorities, cutting the 1,211 authorities into 332. Kirklees replaced 11 abolished district councils.
Since it was formed, Kirklees Council has had either no overall control, or been ruled by a Labour administration. The one exception to this was when the local authority was run by the Conservatives from 1976 to 1979.
Labour most recently held the majority of seats from 2022 until the 2024 local elections.