Jonathan Wainwright calls for change in this upcoming election with the fact the town’s political stance may be shifting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the first time in 20 years all 63 seats in Barnsley council are up for election on polling day. Stephen Houghton, the current Barnsley council leader, has been running for 30 years and is at this time the second longest running council leader in the UK. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jonathan Wainwright, 48, was born in Barnsley and has raised his two children in the town. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Wainwright said: “growing up, here in Barnsley, as long as it was a labour cabinet they would get in so there’s always been that view point up until a few years ago, nobody ever thought anything would ever change so your vote meant nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Labour has held control of Barnsley for over 50 years but with the rise of new parties such as Reform and Restore have brought rifts to the community, Mr Wainwright says. After the last election in Barnsley in 2024 Labour held 48 of the 63 seats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Wainwright said: \u201cFrom my point of view what I find the most healthy of it all is for the first time we may have change because the polls are showing it’s not a one horse race. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think the most important thing for me is change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He has been involved over the years with his community in Barnsley and has been in contact with the council on many occasions following his desire to set up a special needs school in Barnsley to help children such as his son who has severe autism. The plans were rejected but he has continued to advocate for SEND children to his local council over the years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Wainwright said: “I’d like to see the labour party not be the majority party because I’m tired of this decision making, I think you’ll see a much larger turnout than you’ve seen in the last twenty years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I’m being honest I think you might see Reform get in and I have really mixed feelings about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nigel Farage was in Barnsley on 22 April to urge Barnsley residents to vote for reform to end Keir Starmer’s ‘premiership\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The elections take place on Thursday 7 May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
local resident, Jonathan Wainwright, calls for chain in the upcoming Barnsley elections. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":769,"featured_media":70420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[415,21,50,55],"tags":[25,625,49,131],"class_list":["post-70403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-news","category-politics","category-top-story-3","tag-barnsley","tag-election","tag-politics","tag-south-yorkshire"],"yoast_head":"\n