Joy and heartbreak as Brexit impact felt in local elections

After four re-counts, the vote in the Tong ward remained tied, with both the Labour and Green candidate receiving 742 votes.

It meant that the ward’s next Councillor was decided by the two tied candidates Labour’s Kauser Mukhtar and Matt Edwards, drawing lots, leading to heartbreak for the Mr Edwards when he lost the seat through no fault of his own.

Elsewhere the Bradford Council elections seemed to buck the trend seen nationally where both Labour and the Conservatives were “punished” for the lack of progress on Brexit.

Locally Labour held on to its seats, and gained one in Bolton and Undercliffe, a traditional Lib Dem stronghold, keeping its majority on the authority. And the Conservatives also performed well in their strongholds.

And while smaller parties and independents performed well nationally, UKIP won no seats in Bradford, and independents actually lost seats here.

But many candidates said the uncertainty that has dominated national politics in the past year had a big impact on their campaigning, with one saying he regularly had doors slammed in his face by people sick of politicians.

And just one in three people even bothered to vote, with turnout across the district at just 31 per cent.

Thirty out of the 90 seats on the Council were up for grabs.

There were some heavy hitters on the Council up for re-election, but there were few genuine shocks.

Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe (Lab) retained her seat in Windhill and Wrose by a large majority - 1,563 votes compared to the 598 votes of her nearest rival, Stephen John Williams from the Conservatives.

Two other members of the Council’s Executive Imran Khan and Sarah Ferriby, also retained their seats.

Councillor Doreen Lee (Lab) who is expected to be made Lord Mayor of Bradford later this month, kept her seat, avoiding a last minute scramble to find a new Lord Mayor.

And Liberal Democrat Leader on the Council, Jeanette Sunderland also hung onto her heat comfortably.

Voting took place on Thursday, with the count taking place in Richard Dunn Sports Centre and Victoria Hall in Keighley today.

The most dramatic scenes took place at Richard Dunn during the Tong count. After all the other wards being counted there had been declared, the Tong votes were still being counted and recounted.

Matt Edwards, who stood for the Greens and lost out when lots were drawn, said despite the heartbreak of losing on drawn lots, it had still been a positive campaign for the eco-centric party.

He said: “We ran a really positive campaign, and have come second in a ward where four years ago we were also-rans.

“This is our best ever result in Bradford South, and it is a sign people are fed up with mainstream parties.

“To come so close is frustrating, but this is a historic for the party.”

Mr Edwards got three times the number of votes the Conservatives’ Eddie Ward could muster, six times what Sylvia Oba from the Lib Dems managed, and also beat UKIP’s candidate Lincoln Stead.

He and Ms Mukhtar both scored 30 per cent of the vote on a turnout of just 19 per cent, something Mr Edwards said must send a message to the larger parties.

“Turnout was so low in Tong, with mainstream parties getting less than half of the votes. They really need to think if they are actually representing the views of the people they are standing for.

“But people are getting fed up of Labour and the Tories fighting among themselves, and politicians who don’t listen to the people they represent.

“These elections and turnouts should be a wakeup call to them that they need to change.”

The Liberal Democrats were arguably the big winners in this election nationally.

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland said: “We saw a lot of anger on the doorsteps. A lot of people said they voted for a decision and hadn’t got a decision.

“It is a good time to be a Liberal Democrat. We have always stuck to the same policies. We have seen some surprising gains in this election.

“I’m sure the turnout will be disappointing; two out of three people won’t have voted. Voting is important, as Councillors can influence big decisions that affect people’s lives.”

Despite the heartbreak for one Green candidate, Shipley Green Councillor Kevin Warnes retained his seat, and nationally the party performed well.

He said the party had benefitted for people’s dissolution with the big two parties

He said: “I think we’ve picked up around 160 seats across the country.

“This is my fifth time running for the council, and this was the best campaign in terms of feedback on the doorsteps. Undoubtedly that is because of the feeling about the national Brexit situation.

“I’ve enjoyed this campaign than any previous campaign.

“There is no question Brexit has damaged things for other parties. The last person I would want to be right now is a Conservative election candidate visiting doorsteps of the public.

Shortly before learning he had retained his Wibsey seat Councillor Ralph Berry (Lab) said: “We fought a very traditional campaign.

“I think there was a lot of confusion about the two separate ballots (people have recently been delivered their ballots for the upcoming MEP EU elections).

“In some places there is a 25 per cent turnout, that is something we need to be reflecting on. I think all the major parties have something to learn from the rather unpleasant state of politics at the moment.”

Harry Boota was running in Eccleshill as a Conservative candidate. He only managed to get 234 votes, and said Theresa May had turned many off the Conservative Party over her delays to Brexit.

While campaigning he Tweeted “I feel totally at odds with this Prime Minister who has become a compulsive liar and had damaged our #conservatives very seriously!”

At the count he said: “We’ve been hammered. When I go to doorsteps people tell me they’re sick of MPs and that they are all the same. I have to tell them these are the local elections.

“People are slamming doors saying they won’t vote until Brexit is sorted out. It has been very difficult. All these problems at this election wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t have a Remainer Prime Minister.”

After retaining her seat Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: “We’ve very pleased with the result considering the last few weeks and months.

“We’ve been listening on doorsteps and heard a lot of frustration in the current political situation and feelings over Brexit. It is important we keep listening and powering the city forward.

“People were very nice to us on the doorsteps, they weren’t angry with us, they were angry with the national political situation.

“A lot of the conversations we had were about people disillusion with politics.

“Although it is a national issue, Brexit has had an impact on how people feel about politics locally.

“There are so many essential services we deliver, services everyone needs, and we need to make sure the right people are running these services.

“I think all parties want to be judged on their own record locally rather than what their parties are doing nationally.”

When asked how it felt to defend a seat while also being Council leader, she said: “The people of Windhill and Wrose want to know what I’m doing for them and about my track record in Windhill and Wrose.

“But as leader I feel responsible for all the candidates standing across the district who all work incredibly hard.

“You do carry that responsibility.”

In the run up to the election there was a lot of online chatter about people spoiling their ballots em masse. However, when it came to the actual elections it appears few people went ahead with this threat. Although some areas saw around 50 ballots spoiled, most wards only had a handful of deliberately spoiled ballots.

It was the last year the count will be held in Richard Dunn. The leisure centre is being replaced by the new Sedbergh Sports Centre later this year, at which point Richard Dunn will be sold.