What does the Reform majority mean for the future of Barnsley Council?
Reform UK has swept through Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council with an overwhelming majority. This is what that means.
After over 50 years leading the council, Labour have suffered a damning defeat to newly elected Reform UK so what does this mean for the future of Barnsley Council?
What is a majority?
Under the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system, a party requires at least half of the seats plus one in a council to be declared to have a majority in the council overall. Without this ‘half plus one’ amount of seats, they may struggle to pass items through the council if all other parties oppose their policies.
For example, for Barnsley Council which is made up of 63 seats, a party needs 32 seats to hold a majority. The party with a majority is then in control of the council, and their councillors will form the council cabinet.
Sir. Stephen Houghton CBE, previous leader of the council and Labour councillor, retained his seat but due to Labour’s seat loss he will no longer be the leader of the council.
We do not currently know who will become the leader the council, but we expect to hear soon as the new councillors are inducted this week.
As the second biggest party in the council, Barnsley’s Labour councillors will serve as the opposition party.
What are the council in control of in Barnsley?
As a borough council, Barnsley Council have the responsibility of arranging rubbish and recycling collection, social care, road management, Council Tax collection, housing, and planning applications, and more.
In the council there are various committees which hold meetings to discuss councillor, media, and members of the public’s questions, and produce policy plans around these responsibilities.
The previous Labour-led council had a large focus on town centre regeneration, prioritising a Great Childhoods initative which included free bus travel for under-18s and school uniform vouchers, as well as improving street infrastructure, parks and open spaces.
Since last week’s election, Barnsley Reform have not announced who will be leader of the council or named cabinet members.
However, in Reform UK’s Barnsley Penistone and Stocksbridge branch Facebook page, they recently posted a list of pledges they had for local government prior to the election.
- End council waste – “We’ll scrap bad council contracts and cut wasteful spending.”
- Put frontline services first – “We’ll ensure more of your money goes into the services you care about. Filling potholes, bin collections, and making communities safer.”
- Keep council tax under control – “We’ll work hard to protect households from rising local taxes that make the cost-of-living crisis worse.”
- Help the high street – “We’ll work to reduce costs for local businesses and cut town centre parking charges to increase footfall.”
- Close the immigrant hotels – “We’ll fight to end the housing of illegal immigrants in local hotels and houses.”
- Defend local democracy – “We will stand up for the right of local people to elect their councillors and ensure voters can have their say.”
Reform are expected to announce their cabinet at the council Annual General Meeting on Friday, May 29.