THE former leader of Bradford Council has returned to the political fray after local elections that saw the Labour Party increase its majority by four seats.

Ian Greenwood, who lost his seat and the leadership of the council, in the 2012 elections was announced as the new Labour councillor for Bolton and Undercliffe early this morning.

READ MORE: Our live coverage from overnight

The seat was one of four Labour gains in yesterday's election, meaning they now hold 52 out of the 90 seats on Bradford Council. They needed to keep at least 46 to maintain their majority.

Yesterday's elections saw 30 seats across the district up for grabs. Votes were counted at Richard Dunn Sports Centre and Keighley Leisure Centre after the polls closed at 10pm, and most of the results came through between 2am and 3am.

By the end of the night Labour had gained four seats. Ian Greenwood wrested the Bolton and Undercliffe seat from Liberal Democrat Councillor Rachel Sunderland, while Vick Jenkins won the Shipley seat up for grabs, beating Hawarun Hussain from the Green Party. It means for the first time in years Shipley is not totally Green.

Labour also picked up Keighley West, deposing sitting councillor Brian Morris, an Independent.

And they also took a vacant seat in Little Horton.

The Conservatives picked up one seat - with Robert Hargreaves comfortably beating Queensbury Independent Councillor Paul Cromie.

READ MORE - Paul Cromie: 'I lost election on purpose'

As well as losing a seat, the Liberal Democrats were relegated to fourth place or lower in several wards, with the Green Party - fielding candidates in all wards for the first time - coming in third in many areas.

Turnout was 35 per cent, matching low turnout in the rest of the country, and this year was the first Bradford Council election for six years that had not been combined with a general election or referendum.

In 2012 Cllr Greenwood lost his seat by a tiny margin of just 17 votes to the Respect candidate, Alyas Karmani.

Before the count the Telegraph & Argus asked if he would look at returning to a leadership role on the Council's executive if he won. He said: "I'll just want to be a ordinary councillor serving the people of Bolton and Undercliffe.

"I think the current leadership of the council is excellent, and I wouldn't want to do anything to interfere."

After winning the seat he said: "I think the Liberal Democrats have held this seat for about 20 years.

"I think our winning this seat shows the strength of the Labour Party in Bradford, and the reputation of the local MP Imran Hussain.

"My main goal now will be to defend the people of Bolton and Undercliffe from the pernicious cuts being imposed by the government."

These elections were the first Council elections since Susan Hinchcliffe became leader.

After the results she spoke to the Telegraph & Argus about how she felt the night had gone. She said: "I'm really pleased. As a leader you feel responsible to every councillor and every resident across the district. Elections are a very nerve wracking time for a leader.

"I'm pleased with the gains we've made, but we obviously still have a lot of hard work ahead and I'm keen to get on with that as quickly as possible."

She said she was happy that they now had the experience of Ian Greenwood back on the council, adding: "We have a very good mix of Labour councillors. You look across our group and you see some young councillors, in their early 30s, councillors across different ethnicities and genders - we are about 50 per cent female.

"But you also need those wise heads like Ian Greenwood. We can always use the skills and experience people like him have to make sure we continue to do good work in Bradford."

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, leader of the Liberal Democrats on Bradford Council, said people had seemed jaded by politics when she had been canvassing. She said: "On the doorsteps you got the impression that people felt nothing would change whatever they voted.

"I think it is getting to the point where councillors have less control of what is going on in their areas, with combined authorities and police authorities.

"It seems like very few people have voted. This time people seem to have very little interest in politics."