Colne Valley West Labour

18/09/2026

09/09/2026

Kirklees Reform Leader praises achievement of former Labour Council

We are pleased to see that Sarah Wood recognises the good work of Kirklees Labour in administration.

The leadership of Kirklees Labour put in place the plans to ensure no children in homeless families or expecting parents were placed in unsuitable BnB style accommodation. Instead places in more suitable for family settings emergency accommodation.

These are the priorities and political direction that Labour in charge, and espescially Moses Crook for Holme Valley South as Cabinet Member for Housing achieved.

We hope Reform, despite their chaos and instability, can keep delivering for these families.

There will be many other things happening in coming months that were hard fought for by a Labour administration under significant pressure and criticism by opposition groups.

Where they claim waste, we pushed for investment.

We worked for the benefit of all in Kirklees - that must be continued.

03/09/2026

So after cancelling every cabinet meeting for weeks, ostensibly because they needed time to develop policy, the only thing Reform can think of is fussing over flags.

Reform say this is about celebrating what we have in common. But Colne Valley West councillor Dave Rowan said that “gay people shouldn’t have kids” and Tracy Clayton suggested that “pedosexual” should be added to the LGBT acronym. Both are still listed as Reform councillors and Kirklees Reform have not made any comment on them. So it’s difficult to take Reform’s statement seriously.

The policy also leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Does this mean that teachers and pupils who work hard to achieve an Eco-School Green Flag won’t be able to fly it above their school? Will volunteers and staff who work hard to maintain parks be allowed to fly the Green Flag? Are businesses renting in council owned buildings allowed to fly a Pride Flag?

Far from providing clarity, this new policy might provide the opposite. The Leader of the Council can decide on exceptions to the rule, but it is really a good use of the leader’s time to adjudicate on all these cases? Communities in the Colne Valley having to request permission from someone from Liversedge and Gomersal to celebrate their achievements is hardly the “working with communities” that Reform promised.

This is culture war nonsense copied and pasted from other Reform councils that have introduced the same policy. It does nothing to improve the lives of ordinary people.

22/08/2026

Big Labour GAIN last night over t' hill in Barnsley. Labour gaining Pen*stone East with a majority of over 1000 after one of the Reform councillors resigned after a few weeks.

* Multi-member ward where Labour won 2 seats and Reform won 1 seat in May. % changes are a comparison with the top ranked candidates for each party in May.

17/08/2026

The people of Colne Valley West need stable, responsible leadership. Reform is failing to provide this.

Sign our petition to demand that Colne Valley West Councillor Dave Rowan resigns 👉 https://survey.labour.org.uk/dave-rowan-should-resign

Sign our petition to demand that Colne Valley West Councillor Dave Rowan resigns 👉 https://survey.labour.org.uk/dave-rowan-should-resign

Colne Valley West Reform councillor Dave Reform should resign as a councillor after he called for former Commons Speaker John Bercow to be hanged, and said gay people should not have children.

Experience of Reform's disciplinary processes elsewhere shows that he is likely to be quietly readmitted to the party with the expectation this will all blow over.

The people of the Colne Valley need stable, responsible leadership. Reform is failing to provide this.

15/08/2026

The councillor for Kirklees faced mounting backlash over alleged social media posts that target LGBTQ+ people and Muslim people.

📷 Getty, X/TracySimTech

15/08/2026

Reform UK has suffered a double blow after defeat in the Almondbury by-election and the suspension of one of its councillors

14/08/2026

13/08/2026

Colne Valley West Reform councillor SUSPENDED by Reform for calling after the Commons Speaker to be hanged.

Dave Rowan said we should "hang the dwarf", referring to Commons Speaker John Bercow.

Time for him to do the decent thing and resign from the council entirely.

Full info 👉 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/reform-david-rowan-commons-speaker-john-bercow-hanged-suspended-b3032404.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawTqhR5wZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMVF2dmRZVWRqbjN4ampIUnZzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe9bb05rkrf6vVhzVMBQ2QaAM0WxAF5P_-k_lJFRyxN2thZ65vaz7dOgOAy-A_aem_OSfTivp39V8lwA3FK2uu9w

09/08/2026

🤔 This explanation for why Colne Valley West Councillor Tracy Clayton stepped down as Group Business Manager implies that Cleckheaton Councillor Michael Howard, who has replaced Clayton as Group Business Manager, isn't putting residents first by taking on the position.

We'll leave it up to residents to determine if this is a convincing explanation or not.

Reform Watch Kirklees