Reform win by-election in Southey ward in Sheffield as Labour come second
The city's former lord mayor has now lost twice to Reform UK
Reform UK have pulled off another electoral success in Sheffield by winning a city council by-election in Southey ward.
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Paul Jakeman won with 1,113 votes, 297 ahead of Labour candidate Jayne Dunn.
The city's former lord mayor has now lost twice to Reform UK - she was beaten on May 7 by Yvonne Sykes.
Council and Labour leader Councillor Fran Belbin said she was pleased that her party is closing the gap on Nigel Farage's party in the ward.
She said: "Obviously, I would have loved to have Jane back on council because she was a fantastic councillor and a really great candidate in these elections.
"But Reform had a majority of 1,000 in May. We've slashed that majority to less than 300 this time round.
"So, although we didn't win it this time, I think it shows how we're improving in our performance, and I've got good hopes for the future based on that."
She added: "I think a lot of this was based on very, very local issues. For me, Jane was somebody who's worked incredibly hard for the area.
"She's delivered for the area in the past and we found that talking to people on the doorstep, we found people who really respected the work that she'd done."
Coun Belbin referred to the low turnout, adding: "There's still that kind of disengagement, if you like. I think there are people who are obviously still frustrated and looking for ways to express their frustration at the ballot box.
"But we've also seen that Reform have been ripping themselves apart over the last few months, ever since they got more councillors elected.
"It's only last week that one of their councillors in Brightside had the whip removed, and is now going around saying to people, 'I would recommend that you never vote Reform'.
"So, I think we'll see as time progresses that people will start to see the chaos that Reform bring when they do get councillors but then lose them again."
Reform declined to comment immediately on the result and opted to put out a statement today, Friday (August 28).
The election took place after Councillor Gareth Slater resigned in July because of family commitments. He was elected for Labour in 2024 but became an independent earlier this year.
Reform's Yvonne Sykes unseated Jayne Dunn at the May 7 council elections, winning by 2,157 votes to 1,059.
Ms Dunn was then chosen again as Labour's candidate to fight the by-election. She was first elected to Broomhill ward in 2012 and had represented Southey since 2016.
Five candidates in total contested the seat but it was clearly a two-horse race.
Paul Jakeman stood for Dore and Totley ward in May. He came second out of six candidates as LibDem group leader Councillor Martin Smith retained his seat.
Conservative candidate Daniel Gage contested the Birley ward election in May, coming joint fifth out of seven candidates.
Reform won 12 seats in May, bringing their group total up to 13. Since then, their number had dropped by three to 10 because of resignations or suspensions.
After the result, Labour have 25 members, the LibDems have 22, Greens have 20, Reform UK 11, Sheffield Community Councillors 2, Independents 4. The council remains under no overall control with Labour and the Greens in a shared administration.
Full result:
Jayne Dunn (Labour) 836
Daniel Gage (Conservative and Unionist Party) 69
Oliver Edward George (Liberal Democrats) 56
Paul Jakeman (Reform UK) 1,133
Daniel John Moy (Green Party) 146
Turnout: 15.63%