The leader of the Liberal Democrats has lost his seat, the Green Party and UKIP won seats, and Labour maintain their position running Sheffield City Council. Sheffield Live! were at the election count on Friday 23rd March, covering the exciting results as they were announced.
The biggest story of the day was in Crookes. Shaffaq Mohammed of the Liberal Democrats, their leader on Sheffield City Council, had previously represented Broomhill, but had decided to switch to stand for the previously safe neighbouring ward. But his vote fell and Labour picked up votes to win the seat, forcing the Lib Dems to find a new leader over the next few weeks.
Shaffaq Mohammed speaks to George Torr after the results were in
Elsewhere in the city, the Liberal Democrats performed better than in 2012, holding vulnerable seats in Graves Park, Stannington and Beauchief and Greenhill, where their 2010 candidate, Clive Skelton, had defected to Labour and has now lost his seat. But they lost seats in Nether Edge and Walkley which they also failed to win 2012, and end up with six fewer seats on the council.
The Greens were celebrating after winning both their target wards, Sarah Jane Smalley taking the final seat in Central, and Brian Webster gaining Broomhill – their first ever win outside the Central ward. They managed second in the remaining wards in Central constituency (Manor Castle, Nether Edge and Walkley).
Sarah Jane Smalley speaks to Mickey Conn
Jillian Creasy speaks to George Torr after the results were in
UKIP attracted the most headlines, following big gains in Rotherham with three seats on Sheffield City Council: Jack Clarkson taking Stocksbridge and Upper Don, their top target, along with two surprise victories in East and West Ecclesfield. They managed strong second places to Labour across most of the east of the city, while in the west, despite increasing their vote share, they didn’t challenge the leading parties.
John Greenfield speaks to George Torr
Labour saw their votes slightly down on the previous elections of 2012 in many wards, but still well up on 2010, the last time these candidates were up for election. Their gains from the Lib Dems slightly outweighed their losses to the Greens and UKIP, leaving them up one seat overall and with an even larger majority on the council.
Olivia Blake speaks to George Torr after the results were in
Among the other parties, the Conservatives for the first time didn’t stand in every ward, and struggled in their target areas around Dore & Totley, Ecclesall and Fulwood. TUSC picked up only a handful of votes in most wards, their strongest performance by Maxine Bowler in Burngreave only 443 votes and well down on 2012. Independents also failed to feature heavily, with two Liberal Democrats doing the best: John Hesketh in Crookes taking 549 votes and Martin Brelsford in Stocksbridge & Upper Don on 526.
Overall, Labour now have 59 seats (up one), the Liberal Democrats remain the official opposition on 18 seats (down six), the Green Party now have 4 councillors (up two), and UKIP have 3 (up three).
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