Reform UK triumph in Skircoat by-election - what does it mean for Calderdale?
Analysis of another win for Nigel Farage's 'outsiders'
Hello and welcome to The Calderdale Lead.
It’s been a busy week with various things going on not just across Calderdale but across the UK and beyond.
There’s been the VE Day celebrations - which did look fantastic across our borough - various trade deals announced and much more besides.
Locally, there was a shock win for Reform UK in the Skircoat by-election (that’s if we can call Nigel Farage’s party winning seats a shock anymore).
But what does it mean for Calderdale a year out from all-out elections in the borough?
In this edition we try to make sense of what Labour - and the other parties - need to do if they’re to stop the Reform making waves on our doorstep next May.
Plus, we hear from Paul Hawkaluk, the retired police officer who overturned the Labour majority in Skircoat.
So, let’s dive in…
Reform UK pose a threat like no other if parties don’t get their acts together
The defection of former Labour councillor Daniel Sutherland to Reform back in March was dismissed as an act of political opportunism.
But after the party won its second seat, triumphing in Thursday’s Skircoat by-election, is it now time for Calderdale’s political class to start thinking even more seriously about the threat Nigel Farage’s party poses to the status quo?
Just a week prior, Reform had claimed huge political victories across England, snatching nearly 600 seats and taking control of a raft of councils.
Evidence of the threat posed by Reform was starkest just over the border in Lancashire.
The party seized control of Lancashire County Council and in winning 53 seats took the largest single-party majority at the authority in modern times.
Was there a sense that it couldn’t happen in Calderdale and, perhaps more fatally, that it couldn’t happen in Skircoat, a well-heeled ward which was likened, in parts, to Hampstead Heath by a senior councillor I spoke to last week?
Labour - defending a large majority - and the Greens certainly didn’t take the electorate for granted, spending hours pounding the streets, door knocking and delivering leaflets.
But why didn’t the message land?
When I spoke to Calderdale Labour deputy leader Coun Scott Patient last week, he admitted that some of the decisions made by the Government - such as the cuts to the winter fuel allowance, the increase in employer’s NI etc - were an issue on the doorstep.
But he was also keen to stress that the narrative that the Labour Government hadn’t done anything in the time they’d been in power was unfair.
Left with a mess of an economy, a failing NHS and an inbox full of issues, he made the point that - to paraphrase - Rome wasn’t built in a day.
The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made a similar point in the wake of the local election bloodbath, pledging to go ‘further and faster’ with his plan to put the country back on a better footing.
The problem for Labour parties locally is that sweeping political statements rarely resonate if they’re not backed up with action that makes people feel change is coming.
In Calderdale, there’s no doubting that things are - in some respects - looking up.
Halifax, for years left behind in the post-industrial era, is booming - the Piece Hall is firmly on the map for live music, there’s investment in road infrastructure in the town and visitors numbers across the whole of Calderdale up.
But none of that necessarily translates to more money in people’s pockets or an increase in satisfaction at public services.
Reform have, to a degree, the easy job - paint themselves as offering a genuine, never-before-tried alternative to the status quo. Throw in a bit of rhetoric around immigration numbers, council wastage and only flying British flags on public buildings and you have a winning strategy.
The challenge for Labour - which will defend a slim majority in the all-out Calderdale Council election next year - is seizing the narrative and trying to do something that the national party has done so far: tell an engaging story!
Whilst policy is definitely an issue for the Labour Government, the greater problem is Starmer’s inability to present decisions in a way which people will relate to.
This week he’s signed off two big trade deals with India and the United States but he allowed the Tories to grasp the headlines on the Indian deal (despite Tory leader Kemi Badenoch signing up to the same two-tier tax arrangement when she was trade secretary).
He, and Labour parties locally, need to get on the front foot and fast.
Calderdale’s Labour councillors need to continue to put the people before the party on issues that matter to those in Halifax, Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Brighouse and beyond.
The hard work that went into the Skircoat campaign needs to be turned up a notch further. This is no time for complacency.
Labour now have a reduced majority on Calderdale Council and with an increase in councillors at next year’s all-out election - brought about by boundary changes - they can’t leave anything to chance.
Calderdale is known for its independent spirit, its strong socialist history and it’s campaigning for equality for all people in society.
Labour locally needs to ruffle some feathers with its own Government to ensure they stay true to those borough values and see off the threat that is now among them.
New Reform councillor to focus on local issues after shock election victory
Additional reporting by LDRS’ John Greenwood.
New Reform councillor Paul Hawkaluk admits he has no political experience and that his party machine began from a standing start in the Skircoat election.
But he says he’s keen to get started tackling the issues he believes are important to his ward - road safety at Copley Bridge, speeding excesses around Skircoat Moor – “it’s being treated like a racetrack by some people” – and the removal of litter bins by the council.
Speaking at the election count on Friday, the retired senior police officer said: ““It’s been a small team but a very active team, keen volunteers and they have put in the hard miles and it has paid off.
“Talking to local people in the ward we listened to what their issues were and found we were getting a good response towards Reform UK – it was very much a feeling of ‘it’s time for a change, and it’s time for Reform UK.”
He overturned a big Labour majority in Skircoat ward to win the seat from Calderdale’s ruling party by 333 votes in a five-way contest.
The seat became vacant after sitting councillor Mike Barnes, whose 2023 re-election majority was 1,236, decided to step down from Calderdale Council.
Coun Hawkaluk overcame the challenge from Dave Mendes Da Costa, who was defending the seat for Labour and was second in the poll with 1,059 votes.
Green Party candidate Roseanne Sweeney came in third on 566 votes with Liberal Democrat Stephen Gow fourth with 411 and Conservative Vishal Gupta fifth on 355 votes.
Labour still control the council but with a reduced majority of three.
Next May all seats will be up for re-election and following Boundary Commission recommended changes to reflect population changes (boundaries are re-evaluated around every 20 years), an extra ward will be created while some other ward boundaries will be changed and some wards renamed.
That’s all for this edition.
We’ve got so much planned over the next few months so… you’re in a position to do so, please consider taking a paid subscription so I can keep popping into your inbox twice a week with a Calderdale digest and stories.
As always, if you have anything you think I should be reporting on or looking into then I can be reached at calderdale@thelead.uk.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend and we’ll be back in your inbox on Wednesday!
Andrew
The Reform U.K. candidate in Skircoat was elected on 14% of the vote. 14%! It’s because the turn out was so low. More than 60% of the electorate could not be bothered going to vote. Reform will reap the benefit from other people’s apathy. The ‘win’ was celebrated in a Facebook group Illingworth and Ovenden Residents. They only allowed pro reform comments, in true undemocratic style from biased admins. This is probably the shape of things to come, Trump like finger pointing stirring up divisions, blind to the actual culprits. Can’t see the wood for all the leaves. I’m feeling sickened because there’s probably going to be lot more of it next year.