Tag: Cllr Tom Hunt

Sheffield Greens win popular vote and oust Labour leader to make historic local election gains

10th May 2026

The Green Party put on their best performance ever at Sheffield’s local election, winning ten and gaining six new council seats

 

Sheffield Green Party are celebrating its best-ever performance at a local election after gaining six new councillors.

The Greens won 47,886 votes across Sheffield – 27.5% of the vote-share – making them the party with the most votes across the entirety of Sheffield and beating Reform by nearly 2,000 votes.

Greens now hold 20 council seats, against Labour’s 25, LibDems’ 22 and Reform’s 13, on Sheffield City Council.

Councillor Angela Argenzio, Green Council Group Leader, said: “I am elated with our results. “People told us time and time again on the doorstep that they would vote for us, but the scale of the support has surprised me. We work hard in our wards, and people trust us with the responsibility of making Sheffield a place that affords opportunities to all. We will always put people and planet first and I would like to thank all the people of Sheffield who have used their votes at this election.”

9 of the 10 elected and re-elected Green Councillors. (Apologies to Lynsey who is not in the photo!)

The biggest upset of the night: defeating the Labour council leader

The most sensational win of the day was in Walkley, where the Green Party’s Andy Davies unseated Labour council leader Tom Hunt by a margin of 73 votes after a recount.

Speaking after his win, Andy Davies said: “I’m overjoyed to have repeated history by ousting the council leader in our wonderful city, and I’m now looking forward to working with my new colleagues to improve lives for the people of Walkley and Sheffield.”

The Green Party also gained second councillors in Ecclesall ward and Nether Edge & Sharrow ward, and won councillors for the first time in Burngreave, Manor Castle and Graves Park.

Sheffield Green Party won four seats from Labour and two from the Liberal Democrats. With their win in Walkley, they are now represented in all four wards of the Sheffield Central constituency and received 52% of the vote-share in the constituency, where the party got their closest second-place result in the 2024 General Election. 

Greens will share power on Sheffield City Council to deliver for our city

The Greens will now be entering negotiations with the other parties on Sheffield City Council to determine the best way to run the council for the people of Sheffield.  Under the committee system, which has been in place since 2022, all parties have to work together. Greens are already part of the administration alongside Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

New councillors Mustafa Ahmed (Burngreave), Tessa Lupton (Ecclesall), Tom Atkins-Withers (Graves Park), Ruth Abbey (Manor Castle), Lynsey Angell (Nether Edge and Sharrow) and Andy Davies (Walkley) are all in new seats for the Greens, whilst outgoing City Ward councillor Martin Phipps and Hillsborough councillor Henry Nottage were replaced by Maia Salman-Lord and Richard Tinsley, respectively.

Alongside the six council seat gains, the party also retained Cllr Marieanne Elliot, (Gleadless Valley) and Cllr Maleiki Haybe (Broomhill & Sharrow Vale).

Election results: key facts

  • The Green Party now holds 20 seats on Sheffield City Council, up from 14 before this election, making them the third largest party on the council.
  • The Greens won 47,886 votes across Sheffield – 27.5% of the vote-share – making them the party with the most votes across the entirety of Sheffield and beating Reform by nearly 2,000 votes.
  • Sheffield Green Party also came within 101 votes of winning a Liberal Democrat “safe seat” in Fulwood, and 573 votes from unseating Labour in Crookes & Crosspool.
  • This is the second time Sheffield Green Party has unseated a Council Leader after Cllr Christine Gilligan Kubo defeated Labour’s Bob Johnson in 2021, in the party’s then-best performance when they gained five new councillors, and Labour lost its overall majority.
  • The full list of Green Party councillors elected to Sheffield City Council:

The full results are here.

Greens propose that all parties work together on Sheffield Council.

18th May 2023

 

Douglas Johnson in Abbeyfield Park
Cllr Douglas Johnson

Sheffield Green Party Councillors called on all parties to work together in a new spirit of cooperation at the Annual Council meeting on Wednesday.

Following the local elections there was no change in the number of Councillors in the political groups. This means that the Council remains in “no overall control” with no party having a majority

Councillor Douglas Johnson said,

“Greens proposed that the Council has a Leader from one party and two Co-Deputy Leaders from the other two Party groups. This would have created a balanced Leadership Team to work together, providing direction to the Council on the important issues facing the city.

“Greens also wanted to see Leaders come together on a weekly basis to agree on how to address strategic issues affecting the city. This would reflect the wishes of the voters of Sheffield who did not provide any party with an outright majority.

“This also represents a further move away from the old “Strong Leader” model that was so decisively rejected by the electorate in the governance referendum in 2021 and in local elections where the public voted the council into no-overall-control.

“Given the new Labour Leader was not even elected by a majority of his own Council group then he clearly does not have a strong mandate to lead the Council on his own. For the stability of the Council, it is important that Party Leaders work together to provide the certainty that local people and council officers need to give them a new sense of confidence in Sheffield City Council.

There were 3 nominations for Leader of the Council. Labour proposed Cllr Tom Hunt, the Liberal Democrats proposed Shaffaq Mohammed and the Green Party proposed Cllr Douglas Johnson.
All nominations were voted down.

New Labour Leader Tom Hunt was elected Leader of the Council following a run-off vote against Shaffaq Mohammed. The Green councillors didn’t support either candidate. As Tom Hunt got the support of the Labour Group and had the most votes, he became the Leader of the Council.

Unfortunately, the Green Party proposal for one Leader and Co-Deputy Leaders was rejected but in a positive new development Party Leaders and Deputy Leaders will now meet together regularly with senior council officers to discuss current issues facing the Council and provide a steer on a cross-party basis.

Cllr Douglas Johnson said,

“This is definitely a move in the right direction and will further strengthen the cross-party working that has been developed in the first year of the Council’s Committee system. More consideration of issues facing the Council across political divides will help us make better decisions.”


NOTES TO EDITORS

The Council’s rules for selecting a leader are:

If there are more than two people nominated for any position to be filled and there is not a clear majority of votes in favour of one person, then the name of the person with the least number of votes will be taken off the list and a new vote taken. The process will continue until there is a majority of votes for one person. In the event of a tie between the last two persons, the Chair shall have a second or casting vote.