Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council election, 2014

The 2014 Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 22 May 2014 to elect members of Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council in England.^[1] This was on the same day as local elections across the United Kingdom and a European election. One councillor was elected in each of the 17 wards for a four-year term. There are three councillors representing each ward elected on a staggered basis so one third of the councillor seats were up for re-election. The seats had previously been contested in 2010 which was held in conjunction with a general election. The turnout was significantly lower in 2014 than in 2010 which is not unusual when comparing local elections that coincide with general elections to ones that do not. Prior to the election Labour was the largest party in the council with 21 out of 51 seats, 5 seats short of an overall majority. After the election Labour had 25 seats only one short of a majority & so Labour operated a minority administration.

All of the percentage changes in the tables below are expressed in relation to the election results in 2010 when the same candidates were up for election. The swings & changes are often smaller when compared to the election of the previous & subsequent councillors in the same wards in the 2012 & 2015 elections.

The wards of Calderdale coloured in red for Labour, Blue for Conservative, Yellow for Liberal Democrats & grey for Independent.

Council results

Calderdale[2]
		Candidates						Votes
Party		Standing	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	№	Net %
	Labour	17	9	4	0	4	52.9%	32.7%	17,520	6.6%
	Conservative	17	6	3	1	2	35.3%	29.8%	15,981	1.9%
	Liberal Democrat	17	1	0	5	5	5.9%	12.2%	6,565	17.0%
	Independent	4	1	0	1	1	5.9%	6.0%	3,207	1.1%
	UKIP	7	0	0	0	0	0%	11.0%	5,878	11.0%
	Green	10	0	0	0	0	0%	6.8%	3,651	4.2%
	TUSC	3	0	0	0	0	0%	0.6%	327	0.6%

Council Composition

Prior to the election the composition of the council was:

↓

21	17	11	2
Labour	Conservative	Lib Dem	Ind

After the election the composition of the council was:

↓

25	19	6	1
Labour	Conservative	Lib Dem	Ind

Party		Previous council	New council
	Labour	21	25
	Conservative	17	19
	Liberal Democrat	11	6
	Independent	2	1
Total		51	51

Ward results

Brighouse ward

Brighouse

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Howard Blagbrough	897	26.9%	3.5%
	Independent	Colin Stout	758	22.7%	11.6%
	Labour	Anthony John Rutherford	725	21.7%	2.5%
	UKIP	Nick Yates	725	21.7%	21.7%
	Independent	Danny Murphy	122	3.7%	3.7%
	Liberal Democrat	Jennie Dawn Rigg	102	3.1%	19.5%
Majority			775	23.2%	0.1%
Turnout			3340	39.3%	26.8%
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing	7.6%

The incumbent was Colin Stout as an Independent.

Calder ward

Calder

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Alison Miles	1547	37.9%	14.9%
	Green	Kate Sweeny	817	20.0%	8.6%
	Liberal Democrat	Mike Smith	628	15.4%	26.1%
	Conservative	Nicola Jayne May	595	14.6%	9.0%
	Independent	Stephen Denis Curry	466	11.4%	11.4%
Majority			952	23.3%	5.4%
Turnout			4084	45.3%	27.6%
	Labour hold		Swing	20.5%

The incumbent was Nader Fekri who stepped down at this election after defecting to Labour from the Liberal Democrats in 2012 saying that he could no longer support the coalition in the national parliament with the Conservatives. ^[3]

Elland ward

Elland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Angie Gallagher	903	31.7%	7.5%
	Conservative	Sue Hall	855	30.0%	0.2%
	Liberal Democrat	David Hardy	775	27.2%	13.5%
	Green	Susan Ann Thomas	221	7.7%	3.6%
	Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts	Abigail Elizabeth Mary Shaw	72	2.5%	2.5%
Majority			48	1.7%	8.8%
Turnout			2852	34%	25.3%
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	10.5%

The incumbent was David Hardy for the Liberal Democrats.

Greetland & Stainland ward

Greetland & Stainland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Christine Marilyn Greenwood	929	30.3%	15.3%
	Conservative	Chris Pearson	869	24.4%	4.8%
	UKIP	Angela Thompson	647	21.1%	21.1%
	Labour	Jim Gallagher	412	13.4%	2.5%
	Green	Mark Richard Mullany	179	5.8%	1.2%
	Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts	Luke Anthony Gill	21	0.7%	0.7%
Majority			60	2.0%	10.5%
Turnout			3,065	36.0%	30.4%
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	5.2%

The incumbent was Conrad Winterburn for the Liberal Democrats who stood down at this election.

Hipperholme & Lightcliffe ward

Hipperholme & Lightcliffe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent	Colin Raistrick	1,861	56.0%	19.3%
	Conservative	Joe Clegg	888	26.7%	6.0%
	Labour	Pam Fellows	445	13.4%	2.5%
	Liberal Democrat	Mat Bowles	106	3.2%	11.1%
Majority			973	29.3%	25.3%
Turnout			3,321	37.9%	31.6%
	Independent hold		Swing	12.6%

The incumbent was Colin Raistrick as an Independent.

Illingworth & Mixenden ward

Illingworth & Mixenden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Daniel James Sutherland	1,160	41.1%	4.7%
	UKIP	David Ian Ginley	1,032	36.6%	36.6%
	Conservative	Danny Holmes	534	18.9%	6.7%
	Liberal Democrat	Glen Mattock	72	2.6%	10.3%
Majority			128	4.5%	6.3%
Turnout			2,820	31.3%	26.9%
	Labour hold		Swing	16.0%

The incumbent was Daniel Sutherland for the Labour Party. The swing is expressed between Labour & UKIP.

Luddendenfoot ward

Luddendenfoot

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Jill Smith-Moorhouse	1,101	34.3%	4.9%
	Labour	Charlotte Constance Brady	1,084	33.8%	15.1%
	Green	Elizabeth Jane King	539	16.8%	11.1%
	Liberal Democrat	Anthony Robert Hodgins	443	13.8%	24.8%
Majority			17	0.5%	8.7%
Turnout			3,208	39.9%	30.3%
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	14.9%

The incumbent was John Beacroft-Mitchell for the Liberal Democrats who stood down at this election.

Northowram & Shelf ward

Northowram & Shelf

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Stephen Baines	1,338	41.9%	9.7%
	UKIP	Philip Crossley	1,100	34.5%	34.5%
	Labour	Gary Walsh	642	20.1%	0.3%
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Taylor	94	2.9%	15.7%
Majority			238	7.5%	23.7%
Turnout			3191	35.8%	34.3%
	Conservative hold		Swing	22.1%

The incumbent was Stephen Baines for the Conservative Party. The swing is expressed between the Conservative party & UKIP.

Ovenden ward

Ovenden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Helen Josephine Rivron	1,102	59.7%	14.4%
	Conservative	John Shoesmith	479	25.9%	5.3%
	Liberal Democrat	John Dennis Reynolds	180	9.8%	6.6%
Majority			623	33.7%	9.1%
Turnout			1,846	22.6%	26.7%
	Labour hold		Swing	4.6%

The incumbent was Helen Rivron for the Labour Party.

Park ward

Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ferman Ali	2,762	62.5%	19.7%
	Conservative	Shakir Saghir	1,281	29.0%	7.5%
	Green	Patrick Moran	206	4.7%	4.7%
	Liberal Democrat	Craig Whittall	135	3.1%	30.3%
Majority			1,481	33.5%	24.1%
Turnout			4,421	49.2%	12.2%
	Labour hold		Swing	6.1%

The incumbent was Ferman Ali for the Labour Party.

Rastrick ward

Rastrick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Christine Beal	1,480	51.4%	4.3%
	Labour	Peter Judge	946	32.9%	7.1%
	Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts	Robert Golding Bailey	234	8.1%	8.1%
	Liberal Democrat	Kathleen Haigh-Hutchinson	183	6.4%	20.0%
Majority			534	18.6%	2.2%
Turnout			2,877	34.6%	29.7%
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.4%

The incumbent was Christine Beal for the Conservative Party.

Ryburn ward

Ryburn

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Rob Holden	1,513	50.3%	5.5%
	Labour	Judy Gannon	791	26.3%	0.3%
	Green	Freda Mary Davis	482	16.0%	11.2%
	Liberal Democrat	Rosemary Tatchell	186	6.2%	17.5%
Majority			722	24.0%	5.2%
Turnout			3,008	34.4%	34.0%
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.6%

The incumbent was Kay Barret for the Conservative Party who stepped down at this election.

Skircoat ward

Skircoat

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Andrew Tagg	1,252	34.1%	1.2%
	Labour	Alistair John Millington	780	21.3%	4.2%
	Liberal Democrat	Margaret Pauline Elizabeth Nash	696	19.0%	22.6%
	UKIP	Grenville Horsfall	628	17.1%	17.1%
	Green	Gary Michael Scott	300	8.2%	3.3%
Majority			472	12.9%	5.5%
Turnout			3,668	38.6%	30.0%
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	10.7%

The incumbent was Pauline Nash for the Liberal Democrats.

Sowerby Bridge ward

Sowerby Bridge

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Dot Foster	959	32.5%	0.3%
	UKIP	Geoffrey Thompson	790	26.8%	26.8%
	Conservative	Mike Payne	753	25.5%	10.7%
	Green	Charles Gate	227	7.7%	7.7%
	Liberal Democrat	Tom Stringfellow	209	7.1%	22.3%
Majority			169	5.7%	1.7%
Turnout			2,948	34.6%	27.0%
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	5.5%

The incumbent was Martin Peel for the Conservative Party who stood down at this election.

Todmorden ward

Todmorden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Susan Press	1,104	34.8%	8.7%
	Liberal Democrat	Margareta Holmstedt	796	25.1%	8.2%
	Conservative	Mark Scott Gledhill	784	24.7%	4.3%
	Green	Oxana Nikolaevna Poberejnaia	448	14.1%	7.9%
Majority			320	10.1%	5.7%
Turnout			3,176	37.0%	28%
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	8.4%

The incumbent was Ruth Goldthorpe for the Liberal Democrats who stepped down at this election.

Town ward

Town

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Bob Metcalfe	1,039	40.3%	1.3%
	UKIP	Phillip Charlton	956	37.1%	37.1%
	Conservative	Stephen Richard Collins	454	17.6%	6.3%
	Liberal Democrat	Ruth Coleman-Taylor	104	4.0%	13.6%
Majority			585	22.7%	7.6%
Turnout			2,575	29.6%	26.3%
	Labour hold		Swing	3.8%

The incumbent was Bob Metcalfe for the Labour Party. The swing is expressed between Labour & Conservatives who were second in 2010.

Warley ward

Warley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Michelle Jane Foster	1,119	34.7	8.3%
	Liberal Democrat	Ashley Evans	927	28.8%	6.3%
	Conservative	Keith Hutson	908	28.2%	3.4%
	Green	John Richard Ward Nesbitt	232	7.2%	7.2%
Majority			192	6.0%	2.7%
Turnout			3,224	38.3%	25.4%
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	7.3%

The incumbent was Ashley Evans for the Liberal Democrats.

References

1. "England council results". BBC News. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
2. "Election of district councillors 2014 -22/05/2014". Calderdale.gov. Calderdale Council. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
3. "UPDATE: Nader Fekri's resignation letter". Halifax Courier. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2015.