After a shocking neck-and-neck race, Labour have won the seat of Penistone East in Barnsley from the Conservative Party.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Penistone East had been Conservative since 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alex Burnett received a standing ovation as he took the seat from the Conservatives, winning 1,603 votes, a 254 majority. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coun Burnett said: \u201cI am absolutely delighted. This has been a long time coming for Penistone East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We just got out there and spoke to the residents. We kept going out even in what I think was later declared as a hurricane.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With votes still being counted at the Metrodome Leisure Complex, Labour have gained four wards so far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coun Burnett said it looked like it could be an indicator for next year’s general election.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In other Barnsley developments, Rockingham has switched to independent, after the deputy leader of the council Chris Lamb stepped down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andrew Simon Wray is now the independent councillor for the\u00a0Rockingham ward after receiving 771 votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This comes as a shock to Barnsley after David White, who ran as a Conservative candidate but then switched to Reform, won the seat in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coun Wray\u2019s election slogan was “community, community, community”. This is his first time as a councillor.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coun Wray said: \u201cI always knew it was going to be a two horse race between me and Labour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think what won it for me is that I am so well known in the community, I am always in the pub chatting to people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also delivered 14,000 prescriptions during the Covid pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Kingstone, the Liberal Democrats have won the seat from Labour in a very tight race, with the Lib Dem candidate receiving 688 votes and Labour 640 votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Phillip Wright, the new councillor for the Kingstone ward, said he was “shell shocked” but “over the moon with the win”.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coun Wright said: \u201cI live in the ward and the Labour candidates don\u2019t. I think that is a real strength for the Liberal Democrats. It is all about local councillors being there for local residents.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After a shocking neck-and-neck race, Labour have won the seat of Penistone East in Barnsley from the Conservative Party.\u00a0 Penistone East had been Conservative since 1998. Alex Burnett received a standing ovation as he took the seat from the Conservatives, winning 1,603 votes, a 254 majority. Coun Burnett said: \u201cI am absolutely delighted. This has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":52071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,50,82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics","category-top-story"],"yoast_head":"\n