Labour hold Bradford amid success for independents

Following the election Labour have 49 seats on the 90-seat council

Labour has retained control of Bradford City Council, with a large number of young independents also winning seats.

Independent candidates now hold the same number of seats as the Conservatives, with both having 13 elected members.

Labour suffered four net losses, but made gains in Keighley and Wyke.

Council leader Susan Hinchliffe said: "We won some seats, but lost some, and lost some good colleagues."

Thirteen seats in the council chamber will be held by independents

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the success of independent candidates in many of Bradford’s inner-city wards was due to dissatisfaction with how the national Labour Party has handled the war in Gaza.

Among those successful candidates were three young people - Mohammed Ali Islam, 20, Ismail Uddin,19, and 18-year-old Atira Malik, who is studying for her A-Levels.

They were met with cheering crowds outside, with Mohammed Ali Islam carried out of the election count on the shoulders of supporters.

The Conservative's own ranks were also weakened, with losses to Labour and the Greens.

Abdul Jabbar, the council's cabinet member in charge of neighbourhoods and community safety, was one of those Labour councillors who lost their seat to an independent.

He looked visibly upset as he left the count and declined to speak to reporters.

Elsewhere the Greens made gains overall in Craven and Ilkley and held their other seats.

Liberal Democrat group leader Brendan Stubbs narrowly held his seat in Eccleshill after a strong Labour challenge.

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