Labour dominate West Yorkshire but Gaza "an issue"

Iqbal Mohammed is one of six independents who won seats at the general election

Labour won all but two seats in West Yorkshire in the 2024 general election during a historic night for the party.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's first Chancellor of the Exchequer will be an MP from the region after Rachel Reeves won the new Leeds West and Pudsey seat.

Ms Reeves is almost certain to be appointed as the first woman to hold the office, though she said she would not "pre-empt" the leader's choice of Cabinet.

Yet Labour's stance on Gaza has cost the party the Dewsbury and Batley constituency, which was won by an independent candidate who campaigned on the issue.

Rachel Reeves will become the UK's first female Chancellor

Landslide majority

Nevertheless, Labour will form the government after it secured a landslide majority with more than 400 MPs.

Other West Yorkshire MPs will also likely be part of Sir Keir’s front bench team, including Yvette Cooper in Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley who has been the shadow home secretary since 2021.

Veteran Hilary Benn, who served in the Cabinet under Tony Blair, has been shadowing the Northern Ireland brief and extended his 25-year career as an MP by winning Leeds South.

Dewsbury and Batley fell not to the Conservatives or challengers Reform UK but to independent Iqbal Mohammed, who believes views on Gaza, the NHS and the cost of living crisis led voters to turn away from traditional political parties.

He said: "The majority of people, not just Muslims, but non-Muslims that I spoke to were all very concerned with what's going on Gaza and they all see it as a grave injustice.

"We've had Labour running the council and the Tories nationally - and in that time the towns have gone backwards.

"Many people are awaiting treatment on the NHS and many people can't afford food or heating."

'Gaza an issue'

Mr Mohammed is the first independent MP to win a seat in Yorkshire since 1907, but will join five others in the House of Commons who are not affiliated to a party.

Huddersfield’s new Labour MP Harpreet Uppal, who replaced long-serving Barry Sheerman after the veteran stepped down, told the BBC: "There's clearly an issue with trust and it's our responsibility to now go back and build that trust within communities.

"I think we need to make clear that Labour does support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza - that hasn't always been clear.

"Unfortunately there’s been some misinformation around that."

Elsewhere in West Yorkshire, Labour dominated results.

The former Morley and Outwood constituency said goodbye to the Conservatives' Andrea Jenkyns, who campaigned with Reform UK's leader Nigel Farage on her party literature. She was replaced by Labour's Mark Sewards in the new Leeds South West and Morley seat.

Conservatives Jason McCartney and Mark Eastwood lost their Colne Valley and Ossett and Denby Dale constituencies.

Meanwhile Labour's Richard Burgon and Alex Sobel will return to Parliament after winning in Leeds East and Leeds Central and Headingley respectively.

There will be fresh faces joining the Labour benches too.

Environmental campaigner Katie White won Leeds North West, and Leeds South West and Outwood newcomer Mr Sewards used to be a teacher.

In Bradford, Labour held the city's three constituencies and won Shipley from the Tories.

One of the Conservatives' two remaining seats is actually a "cross-border" constituency, as part of Wetherby and Easingwold is in North Yorkshire.

And Labour did not manage to win marginal Keighley and Ilkley, which Conservative Robbie Moore retained with a majority of just 1,625. Both Reform UK and the Green Party increased their share of the vote in the seat.

Conservative Andrea Jenkyns lost her seat to Labour

West Yorkshire's new MPs

Calder Valley - Josh Fenton-Glynn, Labour Party

Colne Valley - Paul Davies, Labour Party

Dewsbury and Batley - Iqbal Mohamed, Independent

Halifax - Kate Dearden, Labour

Huddersfield - Harpreet Uppal, Labour

Leeds Central and Headingley - Alex Sobel, Labour

Leeds East - Richard Burgon, Labour

Leeds North East - Fabian Hamilton, Labour

Leeds North West - Katie White, Labour

Leeds South - Hilary Benn, Labour

Leeds South West and Morley - Mark Sewards, Labour

Leeds West and Pudsey - Rachel Reeves, Labour

Normanton and Hemsworth - Jon Trickett, Labour

Ossett and Denby Dale - Jade Botterill, Labour

Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley - Yvette Cooper, Labour

Spen Valley - Kim Leadbeater, Labour

Wakefield and Rothwell - Simon Lightwood, Labour

Wetherby and Easingwold - Alec Shelbrooke, Conservative

Keighley and Ilkley - Robbie Moore, Conservative

Bradford South - Judith Cummins, Labour

Bradford East - Imran Hussain, Labour

Bradford West - Naz Shah, Labour

Shipley - Anna Dixon, Labour