Reform UK won the Sheffield-Southey ward by-election results on Thursday, with Paul Jakeman taking the seat by 297 votes over Labour candidate Jayne Dunn. Jakeman won 1,133 votes, while Dunn finished on 836 after the vacancy opened when independent councillor Gareth Slater resigned in July.
Paul Jakeman and Jayne Dunn
Jakeman said in a statement on Friday: "This was a victory for Reform's commonsense policies on housing, public transport, the state of Sheffield's roads and how the council is managed." Dunn’s 836 votes left Labour short in a ward where she had been a former councillor, and the result gave Reform a second set of numbers to point to after the May contest.
Fran Belbin on May
Fran Belbin said Labour had "good hopes for the future" and added: "Obviously, I would have loved to have Jane back on the council because she was a fantastic councillor and a really great candidate in these elections." She also said: "But Reform had a majority of 1,000 in May. We've slashed that majority to less than 300 this time round."
That comparison matters because it shows how quickly the margin narrowed between the council elections in May and the by-election on Thursday. Yvonne Sykes had unseated Dunn in May with 2,157 votes, while Jakeman had also stood in Dore and Totley ward in May and finished second out of six candidates.
Sheffield council numbers
Reform won 12 seats in May and brought its group total up to 13, but that number has since dropped by three to 10 because of resignations or suspensions. Labour now has 25 members on the council, the Liberal Democrats have 22, the Green Party has 20, Reform UK has 11, Sheffield Community Councillors have two, and Independents have four. The council remains under no overall control, with Labour and the Greens in a shared administration.
John Hesketh said Jakeman was "a welcome addition" and said: "He will fit in well with Reform's wish to hold the current Labour and Green Party town hall leadership to account." For voters in Southey ward, the seat has changed hands again, but the larger council picture still leaves no single group in control.
