Kirklees Council, also known as Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority for the metropolitan borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. As a metropolitan borough council it provides the majority of local government services in the borough. Since 2014 the council has been a constituent member of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
The council has been under no overall control since 2024. At the 2026 election, Reform UK became the largest party and subsequently formed a minority administration. The council meets at Huddersfield Town Hall and has its main offices in the nearby Civic Centre.
History Kirklees Council was established on 1 April 1974, when Kirklees and West Yorkshire were created under the Local Government Act 1972. The eleven former district councils within the area were abolished at the same time. Kirklees was awarded borough status, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.
The council was originally a district-level authority in a two-tier local government structure, alongside West Yorkshire County Council providing county-level services. However, the metropolitan county councils, including West Yorkshire County Council, were abolished in 1986 under the Local Government Act 1985. Since 1986 Kirklees Council has therefore been responsible for most local government functions in the borough.
Policing, fire services and public transport continued to be run on a county-wide basis by councillors from all five West Yorkshire boroughs. In 2012 responsibility for policing was transferred to the directly-elected West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, and then to the Mayor of West Yorkshire in 2021.
The council has been a constituent member of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority since 2014. The members of Kirklees Council elect one member of the combined authority.
Following several years of funding cuts from national government, in 2016 the council started transitioning to a different service model which the cabinet called being a New Council. The stated aim was to focus the reduced resources on services that only the council can provide, particularly those supporting vulnerable people, while encouraging communities to do more for themselves.
After the 2016 local elections the council was temporarily run without an elected leader. Labour councillors initially decided to replace incumbent leader David Sheard with Shabir Pandor, however Pandor's nomination to become leader at the council's AGM fell after Sheard and three other Labour councillors did not attend the meeting. With no leader, the council was run temporarily by the Chief Executive. Sheard was eventually re-elected as leader and appointed Pandor as his deputy. Pandor was subsequently elected leader of the council following the 2018 local elections.
In June 2016 the Huddersfield Daily Examiner exposed several councillors who had failed to pay their Council Tax in what it called the 'Ratesgate scandal'. Five serving councillors, four Labour and one Conservative, had been issued with court claims after previously receiving reminder letters. Two councillors who had denied the allegations, Deputy Leader Jean Calvert and Amanda Pinnock, were suspended by the Labour Party. All councillors subsequently paid their debts before facing the court.
At the 2021 local elections Joshua Sheard became the youngest councillor to be elected to Kirklees Council, at the age of 19.
In July 2023 Shabir Pandor resigned as council leader, reportedly before facing a vote of no confidence from Labour councillors. At the time Pandor was facing accusations from opposition councillors of misleading the council in his handling of Labour councillor Fazila Loonat, who had been convicted of perverting the course of justice.
History nearly repeated itself the following year, when Leader Cathy Scott faced a no-confidence vote following the local elections in which Labour lost control of the council, due to both a large drop in Labour's share in the vote as well as several Labour councillors resigning in early 2024 over the Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer's stance on the Gaza war. This group would go on to form a bloc on the council known as the Kirklees Community Independents Group.
In the weeks following the election, several more Labour councillors resigned from the party, including Cllr Scott after she had been replaced as Labour Leader in the council. Cllr Scott stated she would continue as Leader of the Council as an independent, subsequently forming a new council cabinet with positions taken up by the other now-independent councillors, now known as the Community Alliance. However, on 18 July 2024 Scott was forced out of office by another vote of no-confidence, with Cllr Carole Pattison being named as the new Leader and leaving no party with a majority on the council.
Failings in children's services In late 2016 Ofsted inspected Kirklees Council's services for vulnerable children and judged them to be inadequate. In response, Education Secretary Justine Greening appointed Eleanor Brazil as Children's Services Commissioner to make recommendations for improvement.
In her report published following the 2017 general election, Ms Brazil found that Kirklees did not have the leadership or management capacity to achieve the required standard. She recommended that Kirklees enter a formal partnership with Leeds City Council, a good neighbouring local authority. The Director of Children's Services in Leeds, Steve Walker, took overall responsibility for services in Kirklees.
In June 2019 Ofsted conducted another inspection and found all aspects of children's services still required improvement to be good.
Governance Political control The council has been under no overall control since the 2024 election. At the May 2026 election, Reform became the largest party. Following that election there was a two month stalemate in which the council was unable to agree a new leader of the council or administration. Reform eventually managed to form a minority administration in July 2026.
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: (Put "Kirklees" in search box to see specific results.)
Party in control Years 1974–1975 1975–1976 1976–1979 1979–1980 1980–1985 1985–1990 1990–1994 1994–1995 1995–1999 1999–2018 2018–2020 2020–2022 2022–2024 2024–present
Leadership Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council, while the role of the Mayor of Kirklees is largely ceremonial. The leaders since 1974 have been:
Councillor Party From To Thomas Megahy Apr 1974 1976 Tom Cliffe 1976 May 1980 Lawrence Conlon May 1980 Sep 1985 No leader Sep 1985 May 1986 John Harman May 1986 3 March 1999 Gary Dimmock 3 March 1999 May 2000 Kath Pinnock 9 June 2000 May 2006 Robert Light 24 May 2006 21 January 2009 Mehboob Khan 21 January 2009 February 2014David Sheard 26 March 2014 25 May 2016 29 June 2016 23 May 2018 Shabir Pandor 23 May 2018 26 July 2023 Cathy Scott 13 September 2023 23 May 2024 23 May 2024 17 July 2024Carole Pattison 17 July 2024 May 2026Sarah Wood 15 July 2026 Incumbent
Composition Following the 2026 election, and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to August 2026, the composition of the council was:
Of the independent councillors, nine sit together as the 'Kirklees Independents' group and three form the 'Valley Independent' group. The next election is due in May 2027.
Premises The council generally meets at the Town Hall on Ramsden Street in Huddersfield, which had been built in 1881 for the old Huddersfield Borough Council. The council's main offices are at the Civic Centre, a complex of buildings lying to the west of the town hall between Albion Street and Market Street. The council also maintains a customer service centre on Town Hall Way in Dewsbury.
Elections
Since the last boundary changes in 2004, the council has comprised 69 councillors representing 23 wards. Elections are held three years out of four, with one third of the councillors (one for each ward) elected each time for a four-year term.
Mayor Councillors appoint a mayor each year. The mayor represents the council at civic engagements and supports the work of their designated charity. They chair council meetings and are expected to be politically impartial whilst they hold the post, although they do get a casting vote in the event of a tie. + Mayors of Kirklees Name Party Civic Year Reginald Hartley, JP Labour 1974–75 William Gregory Labour 1975–76 Andrew Alastair Mason Conservative 1976–77 Jack Brooke Conservative 1977–78 Major Charles Cyril Kenchington Independent 1978–79 Donald White Labour 1979–80 Marjorie Fisher Labour 1980–81 Fred Pickles, J Labour 1981–82 Jack Wood Labour 1982–83 Alfred Ramsden Labour 1983–84 Stanley Dawson Labour 1984–85 Colin C. Walker, JP Labour 1985–86 Mary Walsh Labour 1986–87 George Speight, JP Labour 1987–88 John Greaves Holt Conservative 1988–89 Colin Watson Labour 1989–90 Thomas Patrick O'Donovan Labour 1990–91 Jack Brooke Labour 1991–92 David A. Wright, JP Labour 1992–93 John Mernagh, JP Labour 1993–94 Harold Sheldon Labour 1994–95 Kenneth Douglas Sims Conservative 1995–96 Allison Harrison Labour 1996–97 Rita Briggs Labour 1997–98 Michael Bower Liberal Democrats 1998–99 Harry Fox Labour 1999–00 Ann Elspeth Denham Conservative 2000–01 Mohan Singh Sokhal, JP Labour 2001–02 Margaret R. Bates Conservative 2002–03 Barbara Allonby Liberal Democrats 2003–04 Mary Harkin Labour 2004–05 Margaret Fearnley Liberal Democrats 2005–06 Donald Firth Conservative 2006–07 Jean Calvert Labour 2007–08 Kamran Hussain Liberal Democrats 2008–09 Julie Stewart-Turner Green 2009–10 Andrew Palfreeman Conservative 2010–11 Eric Firth Labour 2011–12 David Ridgway Liberal Democrats 2012–13 Martyn Bolt Conservative 2013–14 Ken Smith Labour 2014–15 Paul Kane Labour 2015–16 Jim Dodds Conservative 2016–17 Christine Iredale Liberal Democrats 2017–18 Gwen Lowe Labour 2018–19 Mumtaz Hussain Labour 2019–21Nigel Patrick Conservative 2021–22 Masood Ahmed Labour 2022–23Cahal Burke Liberal Democrats 2023–24Nosheen Dad Labour 2024–25Liz SmajeConservative2025-26Karen AllisonGreenIncumbent
References