2024 Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 2024 Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council election was held on Thursday 2 May 2024, alongside the other local elections across the United Kingdom being held on the same day.

2024 Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council election

← 2023 2 May 2024 2026 →
17 of 51 seats on Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council 26 seats needed for a majority
Leader Jane Scullion Steven Leigh Paul Bellenger Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Luddendenfoot Ryburn Greetland and Stainland Last election 28 seats, 44.1% 15 seats, 29.3% 6 seats, 12.6% Current seats 27 14 6 Seats needed 12 20   Leader Unknown None Party Green Independent Last election 2 seats, 12.1% 0 seats, 0.6% Current seats 2 1 Seats needed 24 25
Incumbent Leader Jane Scullion Labour

The Local Government Act 1972 created a two-tier system of metropolitan counties and districts covering Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, the West Midlands, and West Yorkshire starting in 1974. Calderdale was a district of the West Yorkshire metropolitan county.^[1] The Local Government Act 1985 abolished the metropolitan counties, with metropolitan districts taking on most of their powers as metropolitan boroughs. The West Yorkshire Combined Authority was established in 2014 and began electing the mayor of West Yorkshire in 2021.^[2]

Calderdale Council was under no overall control with Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Labour leaders until the Labour Party achieved a majority of seats in the 2019 election, when they gained four seats to hold 28 of the council's 51 seats. In the most recent election in 2023, seventeen seats were up for election. Labour won ten seats, the Conservatives won four seats, Liberal Democrats won two seats and the Greens won one seat.^[3]

Seats up for election in 2024 were last elected in 2021. These elections were originally scheduled for 2020, but were delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4] In that election, the Conservatives won nine seats, Labour won eight, and the Liberal Democrats won two. Labour retained its majority on the council at this election.^[5]

The council elects its councillors in thirds, with a third being up for election for three consecutive years and no election in the fourth year.^[6][7] The election used first-past-the-post voting, with wards generally being represented by three councillors, with one elected in each election year to serve a four-year term.

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in Calderdale aged 18 or over were entitled to vote in the election. People who live at two addresses in different councils, such as university students with different term-time and holiday addresses, are entitled to be registered for and vote in elections in both local authorities. Voting in-person at polling stations took place from 07:00 to 22:00 on election day, and voters were able to apply for postal votes or proxy votes in advance of the election.

Changes:

• November 2023: Guy Beech (Conservative) resigns; seat will remain vacant until the regularly schedule May 2024 elections.^[8]
• February 2024: Rahat Khan resigns from the Labour Party and sits as an independent.^[9]

Incumbent councillors are marked with an asterisk.

Brighouse

Calder

Elland

Greetland and Stainland

Hipperholme and Lightcliffe

Ilingworth and Mixenden

Luddendenfoot

Northowram and Shelf

Ovenden

Park

Rastrick

Ryburn

Skircoat

Sowerby Bridge

Todmorden

Town

Warley