The 2008 Wakefield Metropolitan District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of

Wakefield Metropolitan District Council Wakefield Council, also known as the City of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, is the local government in England, local authority of the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. Wakefield has had a council since 1848, which has been ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party stayed in overall control of the council. After the election, the composition of the council was * Labour 32 *

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 ...

23 *

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 ...

6 *

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

Background

Before the election there was disagreement among commentators about how safe Wakefield council was for Labour. ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' felt Labour would struggle to remain in control, but the ''

Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire, although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

'' believed it would remain safe for Labour. Wakefield council joined with other councils from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

to run a television advertising campaign in an attempt to increase turnout.

Election result

The results saw the

Conservatives 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 civilizati ...

make 7 gains, all but one from Labour, and come up only one seat short of depriving Labour of their majority. Altogether Labour lost 8 seats including 2 to independents, while the Liberal Democrats lost their only seat that was being contested in

Ossett Ossett is a market town in the Wakefield district, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated between Dewsbury, Horbury and Wakefield. At the 2021 census, the town had a po ...

to the Conservatives. Labour losses included the mayor, Allan Garbutt, and the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

member for children and young people, Trevor Izon, in

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...

South. Overall turnout was 32.28%. The Conservatives said that their victories were due both to the unpopularity of the national Labour government and due to the Labour council behaving in an arrogant way. The results were seen by the Conservatives as an encouraging sign of how they would perform at the next general election in the Wakefield

constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

. Meanwhile, Labour put their defeats down to national issues such as the abolition of the 10p rate of

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 ...

and immigration.

Ward results

References

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

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2000s in West Yorkshire