A leader has been elected at Kirklees Council after months of deadlock and failed votes.
Following a secret ballot at a council meeting on Wednesday, Reform UK group leader Sarah Wood won the vote with 36 in favour, 30 against and one abstention.
The authority had been without a leader since the local elections in May, when Reform emerged as the largest group on the council but without a majority.
Two previous leadership votes had collapsed amid political disagreements, leaving the authority with no one in charge.
During one of the leadership vote meetings in May, Wood was mocked after admitting she did not understand many of the council processes.
Speaking on BBC Radio Leeds, Wood said Reform councillors did now understand the rules.
"We've had extensive training – we've also invested in our own training and brought ourselves up to speed," she said.
"I would say it was something which was a valuable situation because it's likely we actually know a lot more than people of our experience would be expected to know by this time now."
Speaking about her new role on the council, Wood said she believed her pledge to collaborate with other members was key to winning the vote.
Wood said the focus was now on delivering Reform principles of "putting British people first" and taking pride in civic areas.
Wood added: "Another is applying the rules of solvency and providing real value for money for the taxpayer and giving them what they expect – getting the basics right and creating a really solid productive foundation."
Councillor Andrew Cooper, leader of the Green group, failed to be elected as leader with 30 votes in favour, 36 against, and also shared one abstention.
Reflecting on the vote, Cooper said: "I'm pleased this sorry saga is finally over and that the council does have a leader.
"We couldn't have carried on in that way much longer and it would have caused further chaos."
Cooper said he had heard Reform's party principles, but there was a "real lack of detail in terms of what they will actually do on the council".
Sharing his message to Wood, he said: "The Greens are the main opposition on Kirklees Council and we will of course work constructively, but we will be keeping our eye on what's going on. "
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Copyright 2026 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.
About the Author
