The 2008 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

Metropolitan Borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distr ...

Council in

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

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. One third of the council, alongside an additional vacancy in Old Town was up for election. Prior to the election the defending councillor in Penistone West, having earlier defected from

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

to the Barnsley Independent Group, fought the election as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

. The Labour party stayed in overall control of the council.

Election result

Before the election it had been thought that the Labour party might lose overall control of the council but they held on by only one seat. They lost two seats to the Barnsley Independent Group but gained one seat from the Liberal Democrats to hold on. The Barnsley Independent Group also lost 1 seat to the Conservatives. Overall turnout was 34.78%. The losses for the Labour party were blamed on government policies, such as on immigration and the abolition of the 10p

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

band, by the leader of the council, Steve Houghton, who was himself re-elected for Cudworth

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

. This resulted in the following composition of the council:

Ward results

+/- figures represent changes from the last time these wards were contested.

By-elections between 2008 and 2010

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 2008 2008 English local elections

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2000s in South Yorkshire