Barnsley local elections: a look back at what happened in 2022

Labour retained overall control but the then Deputy Leader Jim Andews lost his seat to David White in Rockingham by the majority of 42 votes.

The Liberal Democrats, the biggest opposition party in Barnsley, gained two seats while the Conservatives gained an extra seat by the aforementioned Mr White.

There are a couple of key seats and battlegrounds where the incumbent councillors could be in danger of losing their positions in the council.

In Darton West, for example, the Green candidate finished close to the winner, Cabinet member Sharon Howard (Labour) in 2022 – the two were only separated by 226 votes.

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

Dodworth is a real Liberal Democrat stronghold.

In 2022, Will Fielding beat his biggest rival, the Labour candidate by almost 400 votes.

Kingston was maybe the most interesting ward last year when a Barnsley Independent candidate almost finished first.

Incumbent councillor Kath Mitchell (Labour) only won by a majority of 113 seats.

Neither Stairfoot nor Worsbrough were a landslide win for Labour in 2022 – they won by 150 and 182 votes, respectivey – so we can expect to see some candidates to be anxious stright up until the last minute at the counting tomorrow.

In Worsbrough standing Jake Lodge (Independent, Worsbrough) who won his seat in 2019 with the majority of 323.