Barnsley local elections 2023: Key seats to watch in Barnsley

In some wards there were just a handful of votes between the candidates.

This year, voters will head to the polls on May 4 to elect one councillor in each of the 21 electoral wards.

The count will be held during the day on May 5 rather than overnight, after a box of postal votes for the Royston Ward were not included in the overnight count last year.

A report found that the time it took to process postal votes alongside the count taking place overnight contributed to the errors that occurred.

The first results are expected around noon, with a full deceleration to be made around 3pm.

In Barnsley, 32 seats are needed for a majority.

Labour retained its long standing majority last year despite losing three seats, and currently holds 45 seats.

The Lib Dems formed the main opposition with nine seats, Conservatives hold three, Independents hold three, Reform UK hold one and there is one Barnsley Independent Group seat.

This year, Labour hold 12 of the seats up for election, the Lib Dems hold three, Independents three, Conservatives one, Barnsley Independent Group One, and there is one vacant seat.

Here, we look at the key seats to keep an eye on during this year’s local elections.

DARTON WEST

Cabinet member Sharon Howard was re-elected in 2022 with a majority of 226 votes, retaining a full slate of three Labour councillors for the ward.

Hot on her heels was Conservative candidate Tom Heyes, with 749 votes.

Fellow cabinet spokesperson Trevor Cave is up for re-election in Darton West this year, having served on the council since 2019.

Councillor Cave is up against Kevin Bennett for the Liberal Democrats; Simon Biltcliffe for theYorkshire Party; Bee Lokkit for the Conservatives and Lee Adrian Long for the Green Party.

DODWORTH

Dodworth saw its second consecutive gain in two years in 2022, with Will Fielding, son of long standing councillor Peter Fielding, win the seat from Labour’s Neil Wright.

The ward is now served by three Liberal Democrat councillors, with Coun Peter Fielding standing down.

Hopefuls for the seat are Sam Christmas, who is no doubt hoping to retain the ward’s full slate for the Liberal Democrats.

Lee Ogden is standing for the Conservatives, and Nicholas Mark Riggs is hoping to win back the seat for Labour.

ROCKINGHAM

One of the biggest blows to Labour last year was dealt by councillor David White, the Conservative who unseated Labour’s deputy leader and long-standing councillor Jim Andrews.

Coun White won the seat with a majority of just 42, before later leaving the Conservatives to join Nigel Farage backed Reform UK.

This year, councillor Chris Lamb, who stepped in as deputy leader last year, annouced he is standing down from his seat.

Standing in the Rockingham seat this year are Karen Fletcher for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition; Brian Gregory for Reform UK; Mark Highmouch for the Conservatives; Trevor Anthony Mayne for the Green Party; Jane Townsend for Labour; Sue Waters for the Liberal Democrats and Andrew Simon Wray as an Independent.

DARTON EAST

Darton East saw a gain for the Lib Dems in 2022, with more than 1,530 votes for Dickie Denton.

This year, fellow Lib Dem Steve Hunt faces two challengers for his seat – John Miller for the Conservatives and Teresa Wilcockson for Labour.

KINGSTONE

Last year, Labour’s Kath Mitchell retained her seat with a narrow majority of 113 votes.

This year, Labour’s Kevin Williams hopes to retain his Labour seat, facing challengers from five other parties.

This includes Judy Barnsley as an Independent; Peter Giles for the Green Party; Roger Haw for the Conservatives; Tracey-Ann Holland for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition; and Philip Wright for the Liberal Democrats.