BMBC Penistone Ward Elections

This Page
This page tabulates Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (henceforth, BMBC) Penistone Wards East and West, to make convenient comparisons and trends which are otherwise difficult to do from published figures. Except for some personal notes, the information on this page is from official sources. Please note that the author of this website has no party allegiances or affiliations and tries to be neutral and dispassionate on the subject of politics, at least for this website. The philosophy is not to favour any political party.

The two Penistone BMBC wards cover just over half of the Barnsley Borough land area, with 24% for BMBC 'Penistone West,' mostly oof agricultural land from Penistone to Dunford Bridge, and 27% for 'Penistone East,'  an extensively rural area stretching from Penistone to just west of the M1 motorway. See BMBC's Ward Map and OS.

HMG's 'Local Government Structure and Elections' says that nationally: 'There are 36 metropolitan district councils which together cover six large urban areas: the counties of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands, and West Yorkshire,' and that Metropolitan districts are responsible for all services in their area, although certain conurbation-wide services such as fire and civil defence, police, waste disposal and passenger transport are provided through joint authorities (districts acting jointly).

Elections
A significant change in voting took place for the May 2026 election. Previously, BMBC Councillors had been elected for a four-year term 'by thirds' with a third of council membership elected each time and a fallow year to make up the fourth year. BMBC and Penistone Town Council elections were aligned for the same 7th May 2026 date with, as before, three members elected per BMBC ward. It would appear that future voting will follow the same procedure for both organisations every four years. This saves thousands of pounds in administrative costs.

UK elections are traditionally held on the first Thursday of May. The Electoral Commission provides guidance on what qualifies or disqualifies a person for public office. All BMBC Councillors are required by law and under Barnsley Council's Code of Conduct , to complete a declaration of interests covering financial and certain other interests which might potentially conflict with their role as BMBC Councillors and they are in the public domain, less some details such as home addresses. The 'The Seven Principles of Public Life' ('Nolan Principles') outline 'Best practice in promoting good behaviour in public life' and apply to every holder of public office, at every level from Parish to Parliament. See the BMBC Councillors, with links to individuals, committee memberships, attendances, declarations of interest, contact details, Surgeries, etc.

Boundary Commission
In 2024, a BMBC Factsheet (for the Boundary Commission) described an intention to modify ward boundaries: 'Each councillor representing an average of 3,073 electors' and 'No wards being more than 10% away from the average number of electors per ward.' See LG BCE (Barnsley) regarding boundary submissions in 2024 for Penistone East and Penistone West wards. This was to even up the number of electors in each ward by the year 2029. Numbers for the 2024 election were: Penistone East - 9,713 and Penistone West - 10,096. Projected numbers (Listed) for 2029 would be: Penistone East - 8,822 and Penistone West - 10,099 with the changes. It is not clear whether these were implemented as they appeared to have been left 'on the table' so to speak.

Screen Layout
As always, this website is not intended for smartphones and the tables below might be too large to view comfortably on a computer screen. You can improve this by relocating the website navbar at the top (click 'Top Nav' on the side navbar) and by pressing f11 ('Func' + 'f11' on some laptops), the web browser will display in full screen. Reset it the same way or 'Esc' might also work. Some web browsers such as Opera and Vivaldi also allow you to change the scaling with Plus (+) or Minus (-) keys; resetting to normal with the Multiply (Asterisk *) button.

BMBC Penistone Wards, Election Results
The trend arrows (↑↓) in the table relate to a candidate's fortunes (votes not percentages) where a previous recent entry was available. Winning candidates are indicated in Bold text.
To simplify the tables, obsolete parties and entries from before 2023 have been removed, although earlier results are archived off-line.

BMBC Penistone Ward Elections, Thurs 7th May 2026
Election details from BMBC: The political makeup of Barnsley Council is now: Reform UK - 42, Labour Party - 11, Liberal Democrats - 8 and Independents - 2, which means that over all, Labour lost control in favour of Reform UK, most of whose candidates were new. The total eligible electorate in Barnsley was 188,414 and 70,182 people voted, including 23,376 postal votes, giving an overall turnout of 37.25% across the borough. See BMBC Elections for details and those of Penistone Town Council.

You can see an interesting balancing act in play here, in choosing how many candidates to submit. If you provide more than one, you might have a majority party influence in that ward, but at the risk of splitting the vote and ending up with none. The main parties chanced having several candidates while leaving the smaller parties and individuals with little hope of success. A feature of this election, with there being more candidates, is that a candidate accruing more votes than previously could still end up with a lower proportion (%) of total votes.

• Pen East: Alex Burnett (Lab), Kay Hughes (Ref) and Frances Nixon (Lab).
  
• Pen West: Florentine Bootha-King (Lib), David Greenhough (Lib) and Vicky Jackson (Ref).
  Robert Barnard's seat at BMBC has ended after a worthy 20-year innings.

This election was dominated by national and, in some cases, international politics such as the Gaza war, rather than advertising who might best be trusted with supporting local services and keeping the local government books in balance. A change in the electoral system had led to far more candidates at one go, with most of them new for this election. There is a suspicion that, with so many new councillors perhaps not really knowing the work of a councillor, they might soon lose interest in the job and this might lead to some early vacancies.

Campaigning had been more like that of a General Election, intended to 'send a message' to a governing party unable to sort out the country's problems, made worse by world events, over-spending and excess borrowing. In effect, a protest vote. Yet we should sensibly vote for the best candidates, not political parties.

A common complaint was that the Labour government had become increasingly disconnected from their traditional supporters, many of whom the polls suggested were jumping ship for Reform UK. In effect, they had invoked a taboo subject by voting for the former Brexit party. At the same time, the PM was trying to gain an ever-closer relationship with the EU. It might be obvious to most people, but the EU topic was notably avoided by the London mass media and Westminster bubble. One wonders why!

Another vote-loser, although less obvious, is the government trying to plunder pension funds. A new Pensions Bill was recently rushed through Parliament after being rejected by the House of Lords, which itself had major changes thrust upon it. Natural Labour supporters, such as council workers and other members of local government pension schemes could in future find that part of their pension fund is forcibly being invested in government projects. Very risky, given that government projects are never sound investments. If ever they were, the pensions would already be investing in them.

BMBC Penistone Ward Elections, Thurs 2nd May 2024
Details here are drawn from the BMBC Elections.

Notes for 2024 BMBC Elections:

• The asterixes in Penistone East above denote 'New for 2024.'
• The election of the South Yorkshire Combined Authority Mayor was the same day.
• The list of candidates is from BMBC's: 'Local Government and South Yorkshire Combined Authority Mayoral Elections - Thursday 2 May 2024'
• Photo-ID was again required for in-person voting at Polling Stations but the trend towards more postal votes continues.
• Several candidates were campaigning for the General Election rather than the local Wards.
• Interesting that turnouts for Penistone East (37.89%) and Penistone West (35.9%) were much higher than for the borough (24.14%).
• Interesting that postal votes exceed half of all votes in the borough.

Notes from BMBC:

• Total eligible electorate for Barnsley Borough: 186,249
• Total votes cast: 44,967
• Turnout: 24.14%
• Total postal votes: 24,129 (53.60%)
  

BMBC Penistone Ward Elections, 4th May 2023
Details here were trawled from the BMBC Election Results Page.

Notes for 2023

• Penistone East went over to the Labour Party after years of Conservative dominance, while Barnsley Council continued to be Labour-dominated.
• More people than usual might have voted on party lines, given how some previously unknown candidates or those from outside the local area gained support.
• The slightly lower turnout might be explained by the new requirement for photo-ID this year at the voting station. Election fraud had been rife elsewhere. BMBC Elections.

BMBC Penistone Ward Elections, 5th May 2022
Elections for Penistone East, Penistone West, also to elect the South Yorkshire Mayor, Thursday, 5th May 2022. These details are from BMBC Elections.

2022 Election Notes:

• Nothing unusual, just the usual flurry of election materials from all candidates and some photo-ops. Some mailshots were personalised, others were not.
• New candidates election are Rebecca Trotman and Andy Waters for Penistone East, James Bangert and Roy Garratt for Penistone West. The others are well-known.
• Total eligible electorate for the whole Barnsley borough: 184,857 - Total votes cast: 47,839 - Turnout: 25.88% - Total postal votes: 25,609 - Postal Votes: 53.5% of votes cast.
• In the South Yorkshire Mayoral election, Oliver Coppard is the new SY Mayor. Details at SY Mayoral Results.

BMBC Penistone Ward Elections, 6th May 2021
Elections for Penistone East, Penistone West and the Police and Crime Commissioner, Thursday, 6th May. Details were from BMBC 2021 Election Results.

Notes for the 2021 Election

• Penistone was 'out in the cold' again as the government Health Minister, Matt Hancock, visited Stocksbridge Health Centre with the (Penistone and) Stocksbridge MP, Miriam Cates. Penistone did not get a mention, or visit. Miriam's efforts and interests are very focussed on the Sheffield side of the hill.
• With all-new candidates for Penistone West and more intense mailshot publicity than usual, this election might prove to be more interesting than before. Publicity efforts from the candidates seem to focus on similar topics, such as better policing, safer roads, building the economy, etc. All predictable and 'election-speak' but, as most of it is aspirational, it might in essence come down to personal profiles and who their supporters are. It helps that most candidates live in our district, and possibly all of them.
• A new party appeared this year. 'Reform UK' is a continuation of the Brexit Party, which changed its name on 6th January 2021. Reform UK is led by Mr Nigel Farage.
• A new Liberal-Democrat candidate was introduced to us in several Lib-Dem flyers. Mandy Lowe-Flello is well-known as Penistone Tesco 'Community Champion' and has been involved with several local projects.
  
• A new Conservative candidate has appeared in their flyers for Penistone West. Martin Bancroft is a former police officer who 'lives in Barnsley' but, in this case, his former profession might explain his reticence to provide a home address. He was a mobile beat officer from Penistone Police Station and a Community Officer for Penistone West. He was also a founder member of 'Penistone 3-Niners.'
• Another new candidate is Sarah Grainger for the Labour Party, who has been an NHS nurse and health visitor for 35 years. Perhaps learning from the 2019 campaign, her publicity does not dwell too much on national politics.
• Fewer election documents are to be found at BMBC and earlier election documents have mostly gone, making it harder to cross-check candidates. Many older links on this page will be broken.
• The usual BMBC election posters are absent from Penistone noticeboards for this election.
• Table details are from the BMBC Election site.

BMBC Penistone Ward Elections, 2nd May 2019
BMBC's Local Government, also PTC and the Oxspring NDP Referendum elections on Thursday 2nd May 2019.
Number of registered electors: 9,345 East Ward and 9,974 for West Ward.

Notes for 2019 Election
Turnout was not bad with just over 1 in 3 voters making the effort in each Penistone ward. Nationally, the two major parties had both lost support in the wake of the Brexit fiasco but that was never a local topic in the run-up to BMBC elections and the 'B' word did not feature at all in election materials.

The Lib-Dems did well but could have fared a lot worse if their their Pro-EU stance had been prominent, given that around 70% of local people voted to leave the EU. The successful Penistone West candidate, David Greenhough, had first appeared for Penistone East in 2018. The Lib-Dem campaign was about 'Labour versus Lib-Dems' and it successfully obliterated the Conservative effort. Thei campaign also played upon the Labour candidate living outside of the local area, 'Ten miles away at the other side of Barnsley' (Monk Bretton).

Somewhat surprisingly, the well-known and active Conservative candidate, Andrew Millner, achieved only a 1 in 5 vote. He had long been a notable figure in local politics and usually had done well in elections. His 'Available all year round and not just at elections' patter was a belter of a slogan, beat that, hey? It was inspired - but just who was it aimed at? Andrew had some health setbacks which might also have sapped his efforts.

The Labour candidate had two intractable problems. Firstly, Labour has dominated BMBC for such a long time that any fresh promises could elicit only one response: "Why have you not done that already?" So we didn't hear anything new. Secondly, the candidate lived well outside our area; was unknown and practically invisible. Also, it did not bode well for a candidate to be shy about their home location. Thirdly, the national mood did not favour the Labour candidate. People were heartily sick of all the negativity in national politics, Labour support of reamining in Europe and this candidate's leaflet was a rant about national politics. It might have played well with traditional supporters but did not otherwise feel relevant. 'Parish pump' wins every time.

David Wood had made an impact as an 'Independent voice for Penistone West' and with a strong campaign. His own survey on Facebook of local residents had put him firmly in the public eye. He also looked quite the part with his b/w rosette, being out and about, visible and shaking any hands that might stick out. Although successful in the PTC election, David's time had not yet arrived for BMBC and he came only mid-way in this election. We should have expected a stronger result for the Greens, given the increasing environmental concerns in the news - but something went wrong there. Perhaps a stronger public visibility by their candidate might have helped.

There was a blip caused by the Covid-19 pandemic which prevented BMBC elections in 2020. Emergency powers were applied during the pandemic which altered some election dates.

2019 Election Sources:
Some 2019 details in the tables are derived from earlier elections at BMBC sources.
Details derived from 'Statements of Persons Nominated' (no longer available).
'Who can I vote for': Penistone East, Penistone West.
David Greenhough - Penistone Lib Dems, Facebook.
Roy Bowser - Twitter, Facebook.
Conservatives - Penistone Conservatives, Facebook.
Barnsley Green Party - Facebook, Instagram.

BMBC Penistone Ward Elections, 3rd May 2018
The BMBC Elections and Sheffield City Mayoral Election were held on Thursday 3rd May 2018.

New candidate Hannah Kitching (Lib-Dems) made a big effort at making herself known via several substantial mailshots, talking to people and other efforts. New candidate Jo Newing (Labour) was the second most prominent candidate, with perhaps two or three mailshots and canvassing with another party member. This was Richard Trotman's (Green) second go at Penistone West and he sent out one or two mailshots. Alex Wilson (Con) made little effort at becoming known to the public and he sent out only one small mailshot.

BMBC Penistone East
Two new names appeared for Penistone East this time. Labour's Martin Flack was listed as living at Hoyland Common in Barnsley. David Greenhough was the new Lib-Dem candidate for Penistone East. After a long absence, the Lib-Dems had made a big push this time to win seats in both Penistone wards.

BMBC Penistone West
Cllr Joe Unsworth declared that he would not seek re-election in the next BMBC election, but would be happy to continue as an elected member of Penistone Town Council (PTC meeting of 22nd January 2018). Jo Newing was a new Labour Party candidate (Labour Party mailshot March 2018) and had helped with a petition of nearly 1,400 signatures to encourage RBS to reverse its decision to close its Natwest branches, including Penistone (Sheffield Star). In her day job, Jo is an ADHD Specialist Nurse working with children and adolescents.

New to Penistone West in 2018 was Alex Wilkinson, the Conservative candidate. His candidature was declared in an October 2017 mailshot and confirmed in the nomination statement. He had fought BMBC elections in these districts: 2008 Barnsley Old Town: 2011 Royston; 2012 Wombwell; 2014 Wombwell; 2015 Wombwell West and 2016 Dodworth (see BMBC Recent Elections). Mr Wilkinson lives in Huthwaite, Thurgoland and is a Chartered Surveyor who works for a Barnsley estate agent.

Also new to Penistone West in 2018 was the Liberal Democrat candidate, Hannah Kitching of Thurlstone, who helps run a Sheffield steel business (not a Director) with her husband, James Kitching. The company 'Fernite', formerly AF Whiteley, makes machine knives, blades and cutters. Before starting her family, Hannah had worked as an NHS Physiotherapist and a Sales Manager. Hannah also fought the Sheffield City Mayoral Election on the same day.

Information Sources:
BMBC Elections site, Notices of Poll (no longer available).
From the Electoral Commission's May 2018 Local Elections Report , Barnsley Borough turnout was one of the lowest in the country, at 25% and equal to Hull, the lowest being Hartlepool at 24%.

Notes from Previous Elections
2016 - The PCC election was held at the same time, 7th May 2016. A Penistone West hustings meeting was held Friday 29th April at Penistone Community Centre, where candidates outlined Manifestos and answered questions put by the public. This was video-recorded and posted on Community Action Penistone.

Candidates for the Penistone East Ward:

• Jill Hayler - Labour Party, Silkstone Common.
• Dale Turner - Green Party, Mapplewell.
• John Wilson - Conservative Party, Pogmoor.

Candidates for the Penistone West Ward Election:

• Dave Griffin - Labour Party, Silkstone Common.
• Mike Ogle - Conservative Party, HoylandSwaine.
• Richard Trotman - Green Party, Penistone.
• Steve Webber - Independent, Thurlstone.

Barnsley MBC votes May 2016
Total Electorate - 175,688
Total valid votes - 46,333 (out of 46,790 at the count)
Ballot Turnout (including rejected votes) - 26.63%
Total Vote Turnout (inc. postal and rejected) - 27.31% (Compare this with 70.0% Barnsley turnout for the EU Referendum).
No. of applications to register after the deadline - 4,145

Details from the Electoral Commission's Electoral Report page. See also the Electoral Commission Report on the May 2016 'Local and PCC Elections', dated October 2016.

2015 - Election Day was Thursday 7th May 2015. Source: BMBC Wards.
Further information added to the tables in 2016 from the Electoral Commission.
Electorate in 2015: Penistone East, 9,342; Penistone West, 9,715.

2014 - Election Day was 22nd May 2014, with EU Elections on the same day.
The 2014 Notice of BMBC Election (pdf) and Notice of EC Election (pdf) went live on BMBC website 14th April 2014.
PTC noticeboard did not display the BMBC NOP until after the nomination period (14th - 24th April) had expired.
Further information added in 2016 from the Electoral Commission. Electorate Penistone East 9,287, Penistone West 9557.
NB. BMBC gives much higher electorates for 1st Sept. 2014, (Polling ), Penistone East - 9.444; Penistone West - 9721.

2014 By-Election Notes
A By-election was held on Thursday 10th July 2014, following the sudden death of the well-respected Cllr Peter Starling (Labour Party), who passed away in May 2014.

2012 - Further information was added to the tables in 2016 from the Electoral Commission.
Electorate Penistone East 9,246, Penistone West 9317.

General Notes - There are minor differences between BMBC figures and Electoral Commission spreadsheets. The Commission's results are taken as definitive.

BMBC Election Parties
This table has appeared on the BMBC website (now a lost link):

For BMBC election results 1973 to 2012, please download 'Barnsley 1973-2012' from The Elections Centre, Nuffield College, Oxford.

Links
Some interesting BMBC references.

• BMBC Facebook - According to BMBC Electoral Services, election results will be posted here.
• BMBC Voting and Elections
• BMBC Constitution
• BMBC Councillors - General information about BMBC Councillors.
• BMBC Register of Interests.
• BMBC Expenses - Annual listing, spreadsheet link.
• BMBC Webcasts - Video of meetings.

• Electoral Commission - Past election and referenda results.
• The Elections Centre - Moved to the University of Exeter, and filleted. Mostly about old elections.
• Office of National Statistics - Barnsley area stats.
• What Do They Know - Freedom of Information requests to BMBC.
• Fix My Street - Council complaints from residents. Link goes to Penistone West.
• Openly Local - Independent information on BMBC and other councils.
• Audit Commission - BMBC Audit Letter (pdf download links)
• Office of National Statistics - Barnsley area stats.
• The Good Councillor Guide (NALC ) - 2013 edition.
• A full list of historical BMBC Ward Election results can be found on the 'Wayback Machine' for the years of 1973 to 2012 .