2023 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election

2023 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election
21 of 63 seats on Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council; 32 seats needed for a majority
Incumbent Leader of the Council; Stephen Houghton; Labour	; ;

Elections to Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council took place on 4 May 2023 alongside other elections in the United Kingdom.^[1] One third of the council was up for election.^[2]

Background

The Labour Party have controlled the council since 1973. In May 2021, Labour retained control but the council was criticised for not counting over 1,000 postal votes.^[3] In May 2022, Labour retained overall control of the council, but lost three seats.^[4] In December 2022, Conservative councillor for Rockingham ward David White defected to Reform UK.^[5]^[6]

Previous council composition

After 2022 election			Before 2023 election			2023 Results^[7]
Party		Seats	Party		Seats	Party		Seats
	Labour	46		Labour	45		Labour	48
	Liberal Democrats	9		Liberal Democrats	9		Liberal Democrats	10
	Conservative	4		Conservative	3		Conservative	2
	Independent	3		Independent	3		Independent	2
	Barnsley Ind.	1		Barnsley Ind.	1		Reform UK	1
				Reform UK	1
				Vacant	1

Candidates

On 11 April 2023, the full list of candidates was published.^[8]

Central

Central (1)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin O'Donoghue	846	46.8	−4.4
	Yorkshire	Steve Bullcock	456	25.2	−0.5
	Conservative	Charlotte Wilkinson	176	9.7	−5.6
	Green	Chris Scarfe	153	8.5	N/A
	Independent	Ruby Paul	92	5.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Catherine Rogerson	84	4.6	−3.2
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout			1,812	20.80
Registered electors

Cudworth

Cudworth (1)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anita Cherryholme	1,137	69.1	+4.2
	Conservative	Mark Brook	248	15.1	+2.7
	Green	Ken Smith	148	9.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Waters	113	6.9	+2.1
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout			1,657	16.64
Registered electors

Darfield

Darfield (1)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Trevor Smith	912	51.0	−11.7
	Reform UK	Scott McKenzie	374	20.9	+10.3
	Conservative	Benjamin Harrison	334	18.7	−1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Hulme	168	9.4	+3.3
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout			1,799	22.73
Registered electors

Darton East

Darton East (1)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Steve Hunt	1,699	64.7	+8.2
	Labour	Teresa Wilcockson	770	29.3	−3.5
	Conservative	John Miller	156	9.8	−0.8
Majority
Rejected ballots			2,641	29.92
Turnout
Registered electors

Darton West

Darton West (1)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Trevor Cave	978	41.4	+2.3
	Green	Lee Long	690	29.2	−0.8
	Conservative	Bee Lokkit	302	12.8	−7.0
	Yorkshire	Simon Bitcliffe	274	11.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Bennett	118	5.0	−3.5
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout			2,701	23.71
Registered electors

Dearne North

Dearne North (1)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin Morrell	1,048	73.1	+1.0
	Conservative	Gillian Millner	152	10.6	−2.0
	English Constitution Party	Maxine Spencer	118	8.2	−0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Evans	106	7.4	+2.8
	SDP	Steve Vajda	16	1.1	−1.4
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout			1,449	16.95
Registered electors

Dearne South

Dearne South (1)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Abi Moore	1,066	59.5	−12.0
	SDP	Dave Jarvis	446	24.9	+18.6
	Conservative	Rosemary Jackson	162	9.0	−4.3
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Fielding	81	4.5	+1.1
	English Constitution Party	Janus Polenceusz	37	2.1	−3.4
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout			1,801	19.54
Registered electors

Dodworth

Dodworth (1)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sam Christmas	1,407	55.2	+9.5
	Labour	Nicholas Riggs	806	31.6	−1.2
	Conservative	Lee Ogden	334	13.1	−4.9
Majority			2,561	30.58
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors

Hoyland Milton

Hoyland Milton (1)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tim Shepherd	1,052	42.7	−5.6
	Reform UK	Michael Davies	436	17.7	N/A
	Conservative	Michael Toon	292	11.9	−12.7
	Independent	Cassie Northwood	284	11.5	−13.1
	Liberal Democrats	Glenn Lawrence	179	7.3	+0.8
	Green Party of England and Wales (2023)	Tom Heyes	148	6.0	N/A
	TUSC	Angela Waller	73	3.0	−1.7
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout			2,470	26.90
Registered electors

Kingstone

Kingstone (1)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Wright	678	41.6	+36.8
	Labour	Kevin Williams	640	39.3	+0.5
	Green	Peter Giles	109	6.7	−0.5
	Independent	Judy Barnsley	99	6.1	+3.8
	Conservative	Roger Haw	71	4.4	−4.8
	TUSC	Tracey-Ann Holland	33	2.0	N/A
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout			1,645	21.30
Registered electors

Monk Bretton

Monk Bretton (1)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Margaret Sheard	1,056	50.2	−0.5
	Independent	Rachel Stewart	769	36.5	+5.2
	Conservative	Macaulay Larkin	182	8.6	−3.6
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Rose	98	4.7	−1.1
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout			2,100	23.61
Registered electors

North East

North East (1)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ruth Booker	1,069	53.1	−1.1
	Independent	Raymond Archer	462	23.0	−4.7
	Conservative	Samuel Wilkinson	205	10.2	−3.8
	Yorkshire	Tony Devoy	188	9.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Kieran Oldfield	79	3.9	−0.1
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout			2,013	19.77
Registered electors

Old Town

Old Town (1)
Party		Candidate	±%
	TUSC	Steve Dankerfield	N/A
	Labour	Jo Newing
	Green	Gillian Nixon
	Liberal Democrats	Patrick Smith
	Independent	Charlotte Sykes
	Conservative	Clive Watkinson
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors

Penistone East

Penistone East (1)
Party		Candidate	±%
	Conservative	Steven Burkinshaw
	Labour	Alex Burnett
	Independent	Amanda Griffin	N/A
	Green	Rebecca Trotman
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Waters
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors

Penistone West

Penistone West (1)
Party		Candidate
	Independent	Paula Button-Roberts
	Conservative	Roy Garratt
	Liberal Democrats	David Greenhough
	Labour Co-op	Frances Nixon
	Green	Richard Trotman
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors

Rockingham

Rockingham (1)
Party		Candidate
	TUSC	Karen Fletcher
	Reform UK	Brian Gregory
	Conservative	Mark Highmouch
	Green	Trevor Mayne
	Labour	Jane Townsend
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Waters
	Independent	Andrew Wray
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors

Royston

Royston (1)
Party		Candidate
	TUSC	Jennifer Barker
	Conservative	Michael Barraclough
	Independent	Neil Fisher
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Hood
	Labour	Pauline McCarthy
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors

St Helen's

St Helen's (1)
Party		Candidate
	Conservative	Andrew Millner
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Nicholson
	Labour	Neil Wright
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors

Stairfoot

Stairfoot (1)
Party		Candidate
	Liberal Democrats	James Kitching
	Labour	Paul Murray
	Conservative	Alex Wilkinson
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors

Wombwell

Wombwell (1)
Party		Candidate
	Reform UK	Donna Cutts
	Labour	Brenda Eastwood
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Green
	Conservative	Debbie Toon
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors

Worsbrough

Worsbrough (1)
Party		Candidate
	Liberal Democrats	Sarah Calvert
	Labour	Sherry Holling
	Independent	Jake Lodge
	Green	Katelyn Long
	Conservative	Adrian Thompson
Majority
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors

References

^ "Barnsley residents need photo ID to vote at elections in May". www.barnsley.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
^ Sandeman, Kit (11 April 2023). "Barnsley council: Local election results 2023". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
^ "Barnsley election: Council criticised after vote-counting error". BBC News. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
^ "Local election results 2022: Barnsley and Sheffield Labour losses". BBC News. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
^ Helm, Toby; Savage, Michael; Barnett, David (18 December 2022). "'We didn't vote for this': anger over Brexit failures is haunting the Tories". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
^ "Councillor details - Councillor David White". barnsleymbc.moderngov.co.uk. 26 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
^ "Barnsley result - Local Elections 2023". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
^ Andrews, Danielle (11 April 2023). "Who can I vote for in May's elections? Full list of candidates standing in Barnsley". Sheffield Star. Retrieved 17 April 2023.

[1] "Barnsley residents need photo ID to vote at elections in May". www.barnsley.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2023.

[2] Sandeman, Kit (11 April 2023). "Barnsley council: Local election results 2023". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 17 April 2023.

[3] "Barnsley election: Council criticised after vote-counting error". BBC News. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2023.

[4] "Local election results 2022: Barnsley and Sheffield Labour losses". BBC News. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2023.

[5] Helm, Toby; Savage, Michael; Barnett, David (18 December 2022). "'We didn't vote for this': anger over Brexit failures is haunting the Tories". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 28 March 2023.

[6] "Councillor details - Councillor David White". barnsleymbc.moderngov.co.uk. 26 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.

[7] "Barnsley result - Local Elections 2023". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2023.

[8] Andrews, Danielle (11 April 2023). "Who can I vote for in May's elections? Full list of candidates standing in Barnsley". Sheffield Star. Retrieved 17 April 2023.

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v t e Council elections in South Yorkshire
Barnsley	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Doncaster	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2017 2021 2025
Rotherham	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2021 2024
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South Yorkshire CC	1973 1977 1981 Abolished
West Riding CC	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 Abolished
Metro Mayor	2018 2022 2024
See also: Wards Boundary changes