Four more years!

Yes indeedy!

The votes have been counted, the beer has been drunk and it hasn't been a bad election for Kirklees Greens. Julie Stewart-Turner returned with a majority of over a thousand in Newsome and Derek Hardcastle won Kirkburton with 82 votes over the Conservatives (Kirklees Results). The Kirkburton Count was as unpleasant as usual from the usual source unfortunately but we got the result at the end of the day. There seemed to be an assumption by the Conservatives that they were going to romp home due to their 1100 majority last year but they failed to take into account the fact  that their vote was boosted in a General Election year with voters turning out who may not be as engaged with local and community issues. Derek worked incredibly hard during the campaign getting out and about seeing people and was a worthy winner.

 
We also had a good showing in the Kirkburton Parish elections with 12 Greens being elected onto a Parish of 25 (Parish Results). The really satisfying thing is that we now have at least one Green Party Parish Councillor in every Parish Ward in the Kirkburton Ward which bodes well for the future. It was a  shame that we didn't get the rest of our 6 Parish Candidates elected but hopefully better luck next time. The important thing now is to turn that result into more successful local action at the community and Kirklees level.