Labour managed to put distance on the Conservatives yesterday as the results of the battle for a third of the seats on Bradford Council came in thick and fast.

The deadlock was broken and three seats turned red at the expense of the Tories with one transferring to the Liberal Democrats.

The resulting picture leaves Labour with 39 seats – still short of a working majority – but seven more than the Conservative’s 32, and the Lib Dems up one to 14. The Green Party still has three seats and the British National Party remains on two.

It leaves either of the two largest parties still in need of Lib Dem backing to control the 90-strong Council chamber. And with Council leader Kris Hopkins taking up his parliamentary seat for Keighley, the leadership of the authority will change.

Coun Hopkins will leave his name off nominations for control of his group at their annual meeting on Monday, leaving the new Conservative group leader to attempt to broker an agreement with Jeanette Sunderland of the Lib Dems.

Coun Hopkins said: “Whoever is leader of the group will need the opportunity to sit down and there must be a mature debate about the options available. I will support whoever the group chooses on Monday, and in the interim I will continue as Council leader until my successor is voted in later this month.”

Despite his new position as MP, he could well continue as councillor for Worth Valley.

Labour group leader Councillor Ian Greenwood told the Telegraph & Argus: “We will talk to the Liberals but I live in hope rather than expectation. Our view is that we would be prepared to enter into an agreement with them, but they may well make demands that we are unable to accede to.”

Lib Dem group leader Coun Sunderland said of the impending negotiations: “We are going to take a view at our meeting on Sunday and look at our manifesto again, and those of Labour and the Conservatives.”

Notable scalps came in the form of three Tory councillors – executive member Mohammad Masood, who was unseated in Heaton; an emotional David Servant who lost his Clayton & Fairweather Green seat, and Colin McPhee, who saw Eccleshill return to the Lib Dems.

Drama at the counts was provided in the form of a number of recounts requested in both the Queensbury and Bowling & Barkerend wards.

And BNP councillors, husband and wife team, Paul and Lynda Cromie, requested a police escort from Richard Dunn Sports Centre in the face of jeers and taunts.

Baildon Councillor Val Townend expressed her “sheer delight” after retaining her seat in the Baildon ward. The Conservative candidate said she was “relieved” that a long and hard campaign had come to such a successful end.

Denise Thomas, of the Liberal Democrat party, came second with 3,162, with the Labour party candidate Mairead Farndale receiving 1,040 votes.

Coun Townend said: “My majority has increased from 475 last time to 850 this time, which is really pleasing. I aim to keep helping the residents in any way that I possible can and to work hard for the people of Baildon.”

Bingley A jubilant David Heseltine punched the air with delight as he retained his seat for Conservatives. He was immediately mobbed by a group of supporters and those who have helped him campaign.

Coun Heseltine said: “It’s nice that the people of Bingley have chosen me to represent them at City Hall for another term and I will try to represent them to the best of my ability.”

He said one of the main issues in the coming years would be the situation regarding the centre of Bingley and what can be done with the old Bradford & Bingley HQ. He said he would also fight “tooth and nail” to help campaigners to prevent a controversial housing development at Sty Lane.

Bingley Rural Michael Ellis retained his seat for the Tories in Bingley Rural. The Oxenhope resident, a 66-year-old safety adviser, said he fought the campaign on local issues, not party politics.

“My campaign identified issues concerning the five major settlements in my ward,” he said.

He was pleased with the progress of getting traffic lights at Flappit, a major accident black-spot. Progress was also being made in getting 20mph speed limits through Harden and Wilsden. Anti-social behaviour was a major issue especially in the parks and he was looking to get a ban on people abusing alcohol in public.

Bolton and Undercliffe Councillor David Gray held on to the seat for the Liberal Democrats with a majority of more than 1,300. However he was unable to be at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre to hear the results as he was working.

Mark Fieldhouse, for Labour, came in second with the Conservative’s Abdul Butt in third, followed by the BNP, then Green Party and finally the Democratic Nationalists.

Bowling and Barkerend Councillor Zameer Shah retained his seat with a slim majority of 116 votes over Labour candidate Rupert Oliver.

Coun Shah said: “Now we have got a lot to get on with and deliver for the people of Bowling and Barkerend. I look forward to doing the best I can for the electorate.”

Bradford Moor Labour also kept its seat in Bradford Moor with Mohammed Shafiq, who was first elected to the Council in 2006, winning with a majority of more than 1,000 votes over runner-up, Liberal Democrat candidate Shabir Butt.

City Labour’s Nazam Azam, believed to be one of Bradford’s youngest councillors at 25, won the seat from the Conservatives by more than 1,500 votes.

A Manchester Metropolitan University graduate he said: “It’s absolutely terrific, I would like to thank everybody involved with my campaign. The people of City ward have put their trust in me and I hope to pay that back to them. I hope to represent everybody, especially the young people of the ward.”

Clayton and Fairweather Green Labour’s first gain came in the ward when long-serving Conservative councillor David Servant lost out to Labour’s Sinead Engel by more than 800 votes.

Of her victory Councillor Engel said: “It’s what the ward needs, someone who lives there and is able to work to fix all the things that have been neglected over the past few years. I want to improve things not just in the ward, but in Bradford as a whole. I want everybody to say they are proud to be from Bradford.”

Craven Councillor Andrew Mallinson spoke of his “mixed emotions” after he retained the Craven seat for the Conservative party. He said he was delighted by the support he had received, especially at a time of such personal family tragedy. Coun Mallinson is mourning the loss of his 30-year-old son-in-law Neil Hustwit, a police officer who died suddenly and mysteriously after collapsing while on a night out. Coun Mallinson said: “It’s a mixed reaction really.”

He said he was looking forward to the next four years and would try to push forward moves towards a more integrated transport system for the area.

Eccleshill Sitting councillor Colin McPee, who defected to the Conservatives from the Lib Dems in 2008, lost to Geoff Reid by almost 1,400 votes. Councillor Reid, a recently retired Methodist minister, said: “I am delighted. It brings Eccleshill back to having three Lib Dems. The people of Eccleshill know what they get from Lib Dem councillors and in the circumstances I am glad to be elected as a Lib Dem, I will be accountable as a Lib Dem and I will serve them as a Lib Dem.”

Labour’s Joanne Dodds retained her seat with an increased share of the vote. In 2006 when she was first elected to the Council she managed 1,772 votes, but this time round she boosted her poll to 3,647 and a majority of 2,080. The greatly increased turnout of 58 per cent also helped.

She said: “I’m absolutely delighted and want to thank everybody that has voted for me. I’ve worked really hard over the last four years and will continue to do just that.”

Heaton Another Labour gain came in Heaton when Conservative Councillor Mohammed Masood, the Council’s executive member for corporate services, lost his seat to Imdad Hussain by almost 500 votes.

Councillor Hussain said: “I’m very pleased that I will be able to represent my local community in Heaton and I hope to do a marvellous job for them by working hard and being available to them. It’s where I live and it’s why I want to do my best.”

Idle and Thackley Newly-elected Councillor Geoff Reid’s wife Chris also tasted success, winning a seat for Idle and Thackley with a large majority of almost 2,100 votes. She had stood as candidate at the last minute after Councillor David Ward, now MP for Bradford East, decided not to contest the seat.

She said: “It’s a bit scary but exciting. It will be a new experience for me.”

Ilkley Charity worker Mike Gibbons, who has been 20 years on Ilkley Parish Council, is making his first foray into district council politics. The 56-year-old took the seat with 4,378 votes – a majority of 2,612 over Labour.

Councillor Gibbons, a father-of-two, said he would be tackling two major issues which had widespread concern in the town.

“I’ll be fighting to keep services at Coronation Hospital. We want them retaining in the town and not transferred and centralised at Airedale General Hospital,” he said. “Ilkley people are also strongly opposed to the proposal to build a new Tesco store. It would cause dreadful disruption and congestion.”

Keighley Central There were noisy and jubilant scenes as Abid Hussain held the Keighley Central seat for the Labour party.

Councillor Hussain, who has lived in Keighley for more than 40 years, expressed his “delight” after securing 4,174 votes.

Coun Hussain said: “My full team has worked very hard. They campaigned very well indeed and I believe that’s why we had this great result.”

Keighley East Labour’s Steve Pullen held on to his seat because of his work in the community, he said. The father-of-two, a maintenance engineer, said the fact he had been re-elected reflected his commitment.

He said: “We do a lot of work in the community and we hope to get rewarded by people coming out and voting which they have done.”

Keighley West It was a close-run thing in Keighley West, with fewer than 200 votes splitting the two top candidates.

In the end, it was Labour’s Keith Dredge who prevailed with 2,625 votes, narrowly pipping his Tory opponent Chris Herd.

Coun Dredge said: “I have fought the campaign for the last 14 months and now we are going to try to pick up a number of the main issues in Keighley West.”

He said he wanted to tackle the blight of a number of “eyesore” building sites that were creating misery for nearby residents and fight to improve the quality of some of the social housing in the area to enhance the day-to-day lives of residents.

Little Horton The Deputy Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Naveeda Ikram, who was the Council’s first female British Pakistani member, held on to her seat for Labour with a majority of almost 2,400 votes.

She said: “I am overwhelmed that the people of Little Horton have put so much trust in me and have appreciated all my hard work by deciding to re-elect me again.”

Manningham Shabir Hussein retained his seat for Labour, receiving in excess of 2,200 votes more than Liberal Democrat candidate Mohammed Aurangzeb. He said: “Its been a hard job and I want to thank all the people who have helped me. For the next four years I am looking forward to improving education in Bradford.”

Queensbury The ward saw the closest result of the election with only 15 votes separating Conservative candidate Allan Shepherd and BNP Councillor Paul Cromie, who retained the seat for the far-right party. Coun Cromie said: “I’m delighted. I am looking forward to another four years serving the Queensbury community.”

Royds Long-serving Labour Councillor Val Slater, who was first elected to the Council in 1996, retained her seat with a comfortable majority, receiving 1,200 votes more than Conservative candidate Sally McCartney.

She said: “I’m really pleased that the people of Royds have seen fit to re-elect me and serve them for the next four years. I pledge to do my best to serve everyone in Royds ward.”

Shipley Hawarun Hussain retained her seat for the Green Party in Shipley. Councillor Hussain said more and more people were accepting the importance of Green issues and taking them on board.

“We can’t rely on the Government to change things. We have to do it in our own communities,” she said.

Thornton and Allerton Councillor Valerie Binney, a former Lord Mayor of Bradford, retained her seat for the Conservatives, polling in excess of 600 votes more than Labour’s Mark Blackburn. On her re-election she said: “I’m terribly excited.”

Toller Labour’s Imran Hussain retained his seat in Toller by more than 2,000 votes and said he was pleased by the party’s success in the election He said: “I feel delighted. I think we have had a fantastic result in Bradford West. We have won five of the six seats. It sends out a clear message that the people of Bradford West have made their choice that the Labour Party is the party for them.”

Tong Labour stalwart and retiring councillor Tony Cairns will be pleased his old seat remained in the party’s hands, as Alan Wainwright held on to the mantle. He polled 2,418 with a majority of 1,000 over the Conservatives’ Craig Reynolds.

Councillor Wainwright said: “I am very delighted with the result. We’ve had a good team in Tong and had three good councillors there for years. When Tony Cairns decided to retire, party members asked me to stand. I am pleased to have bucked the national trend.”

Wharfedale The Conservatives romped home in the Wharfedale ward with a large majority. Councillor Chris Greaves held on to the seat after polling 3,874 votes, leaving his nearest contender more than 2,000 votes adrift.

He said: “I’m absolutely delighted. It’s a super result. It’s a solid overall majority so there can’t be any arguments like there have been nationally in terms of who got the most votes.”

Looking to the next four years, Coun Greaves said transport would continue to be a “key issue” for people in his ward.

Wibsey Councillor Lynne Smith, who has represented the ward for four years, retained her seat, polling in excess of a 1,000 votes more than Conservative candidate Richard Sheard.

She increased her majority by more than 800 votes and said: “It’s an increased majority so I think voters in Wibsey clearly value their hard working Labour councillors. I am delighted to be representing them for another four years.”

Windhill and Wrose Labour’s Vanda Greenwood retained her seat amid scenes of celebration as the result was announced at Keighley Leisure Centre.

Councillor Greenwood, who was born and bred in Windhill, said: “I’m absolutely delighted with the result and I’ve got to thank the people of Windhill and Wrose. I can’t talk at the moment – I’m so pleased.”

She said she would continue to campaign hard on planning and highways issues to give the people of her ward a strong voice.

Worth Valley Sitting Councillor Glen Miller held on to his seat with an increased majority. The chairman of Keighley area committee said he had made community issues a major plank of his campaign.

He said: “I will continue to represent all the community. I’m here for the benefit of all. I will be campaigning for a library and community centre in the upper Worth Valley.”

Wyke Councillor David Warburton was another Labour candidate to retain his seat, receiving 2,369 votes. He said: “I’m really pleased that the community of Wyke ward have given me the support for the work that we have done for the past four years and we will continue to support all parts of the community for the foreseeable future.”