Reform UK selects Liversedge and Gomersal Councillor Sarah Wood as its first-ever group leader on Kirklees Council
Reform UK has selected its first-ever group leader on Kirklees Council after a historic all-out local election.
First-time Councillor Sarah Louise Wood, who was elected in Liversedge and Gomersal, has been selected to represent the party after receiving more than 2,000 votes at the polls earlier this month.
Speaking at the vote count on May 8, Coun Wood said the priority would not be on “replicating” previous councils.
She said: “We have got a lot of people who work or have worked for the civil service, so we have public sector experience.
“It doesn’t work for us to go in and be like the other councillors that we have replaced. We are not looking to replicate them.
“We are looking to do what we need to do in terms of legislation and how we can make changes.”
Despite Reform UK being the largest party on Kirklees Council with 29 seats, it does not hold a majority – meaning that despite being the Reform group leader, Coun Wood is not the overall Leader of the Council.
Instead, this will be decided tomorrow (Wednesday, May 20) at the annual council meeting, alongside the appointment of a new Mayor of Kirklees.
Coun Wood said that the party’s priority would be starting to “understand the system” before making any decisions.
She said: “One of the first things we will do is start to understand the system, look at how things work now, form relationships with the executives in Kirklees and start to work out what skills we have to actually make a difference and make change.”
Coun Wood is not a complete stranger to politics, having run to be the MP for Spen Valley in 2019 and 2024, but was not elected.
According to her previous campaigns, the long-time Spen Valley resident has spent more than 10 years working as an aeronautical engineer for major automotive brands such as Aston Martin, BMW, Rolls-Royce and Jaguar Land Rover before qualifying as a secondary school engineering design and technology teacher.
She joins fellow group leaders on the council: Andrew Cooper for the Green Party, John Taylor for the Conservatives and Anthony Smith for the Liberal Democrats.