Kirklees Council leader elected after months of stalemate

A leader has been elected at Kirklees Council after months of deadlock and failed votes.

Following a secret ballot at a council meeting on Wednesday, Reform UK group leader Sarah Wood won the vote with 36 in favour, 30 against and one abstention.

The authority had been without a leader since the local elections in May, when Reform emerged as the largest group on the council but without a majority.

Two previous leadership votes had collapsed amid political disagreements, leaving the authority with no one in charge.

During one of the leadership vote meetings in May, Wood was mocked after admitting she did not understand many of the council processes.

Speaking on BBC Radio Leeds, Wood said Reform councillors did now understand the rules.

“We’ve had extensive training – we’ve also invested in our own training and brought ourselves up to speed,” she said.

“I would say it was something which was a valuable situation because it’s likely we actually know a lot more than people of our experience would be expected to know by this time now.”

Speaking about her new role on the council, Wood said she believed her pledge to collaborate with other members was key to winning the vote.

Wood said the focus was now on delivering Reform principles of “putting British people first” and taking pride in civic areas.