Labour loses control of Bradford Council

Labour has lost overall control of Bradford Council in the local elections, as Reform UK takes the biggest percentage of seats followed by the Conservative Party.

Reform UK took 29 seats, many of which were taken from Labour councillors – including leader of the council, Susan Hinchcliffe.

Turnout for the Bradford District was 40.86%, with especially high turnouts in Ilkley and Addingham (62%) and Wharfedale (57%).

The Conservative Party made gains in Ilkley and Addingham and in the Worth Valley taking 18 seats while Labour lost 29 seats.

Hinchcliffe, who had been leader for more than a decade, said she stood proudly on her record.

"I'm a team leader and it's not about me. I'm sorry for those Labour councillors who put a huge amount of work in. Everybody worked so hard in this campaign," she said.

She added: "This is a national swing and you can't beat a national swing. They [voters] wanted to send a message and they have done that nationally."

Imran Hussain, MP for Bradford East, said the results were a "disaster".

He said: "We were given a clear mandate two years ago, people expected us to deliver and that clearly – from the results – hasn't happened. In Bradford we've lost some excellent candidates.

"Susan Hinchcliffe has done an exceptional job over the last decade.

"But Susan did not lose today because of local issues. It's clear today this will be the last election Keir Starmer leads us into."

Reform UK does not currently have a local leader, as it previously held no seats on council, but Chris Howlett - the newly elected councillor for Windhill and Wrose - said everybody needed to work together.

"Going round for the first time canvassing, I met so many wonderful people. I really enjoyed speaking to people from all sides of the spectrum and I've got to know them. I'm aiming to be as good as I can for the people of Windhill and Wrose."

Reform UK could form a coalition at the council with the Conservative Party.

Conservative group leader Rebecca Poulson did not rule out working with Reform UK but said she would not be putting up with "any silly stuff".

She said: "There's no plans at the moment. People voted for us to be Conservatives.

"There might be some things we agree on but there are also thing we don't agree on, we'll have to look at individual decisions as and when."

She added: "It will take a while for the council to settle down and there will be a lot of change going forward."

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