← Thursday 20 August 2026

Penistone East

Barnsley · polled Thursday 20 August
Reform UK defending

The ward last elected three councillors together, in May 2026: Labour won two seats and Reform UK one, Labour taking the most votes on 38 per cent to Reform's 34 per cent. Earlier contests were won by Labour in 2024 and 2023. This by-election fills the Reform seat, vacated when Kay Hughes resigned about eight weeks after the May election, citing personal reasons. Eight candidates are standing.

Result
Labour gain from Reform UK
Party Share
Labour51.5%
Reform UK23.8%
Conservative11.6%
Restore Britain6.5%
Restore Britain and independents2.8%
Liberal Democrats2.1%
Green1.7%

Projection published before polls closed
64 in 100
simulated outcomes
Labour: Slight favourite
Labour64 in 100
Reform UK16 in 100
Conservative11 in 100

Restore Britain and independents, Liberal Democrats, Green: fewer than 5 wins in 100 each.

How often each candidate wins the seat across 10,000 simulations of this contest - chances of winning, not vote shares.

Adjusted projection. This projection is adjusted from the model's automatic output. The model discounts Reform below its May 2026 level because the councillor who won the seat is not standing again; the adjustment lifts Reform's projected share back toward its May 2026 level, reflecting that Reform is defending the seat.

How this ward has voted
ResultConservativeLabourLiberal DemocratsGreenReform UKIndependents
May 202618%38%4%5%34%-
May 202438%42%11%10%--
May 202336%42%13%5%-4%

Winning share of all votes cast in bold. Multi-member wards elect several councillors at once. Includes any county-division contest covering the same ground.

On the ballot
Worth knowing
  • The Labour candidate, John Roberts, has won this ward before, and is standing again.
  • The Conservative candidate has stood here before, polling 36 per cent.
The council

Barnsley is a metropolitan borough: it runs every local service, from schools to bins. Current control: Reform UK.

Current composition of 63 seats
Labour 12Liberal Democrats 8Reform UK 41Independents and others 2

Seats under the independents-and-others heading here have been won by independents at elections since 2022.

How every council in Britain stands →

Wards coloured by the party that last won them; the by-election ward is outlined. Hover a ward for its last result.

Ward profile
Degree-educated39%
Owner-occupied78%
Social renting10%
Upper tier

There is no county council above Barnsley. Transport and some strategic functions sit with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

In Westminster

The ward is part of the Penistone and Stocksbridge constituency. Labour MP Marie Tidball won it at the 2024 general election with 44 per cent of the vote.

Spot an error, or have feedback on this page?
Council composition from Open Council Data. Candidates, candidate histories and polling-day information from Democracy Club. Historical ward results from the Local Elections Archive Project and Democracy Club. Boundary data contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right.