AFTER all the votes for this year’s local elections had been counted, it emerged that Labour had once again strengthened its hold on Bradford Council, with the Conservatives losing seats and Greens making further gains.

Ahead of Thursday’s vote, Labour had 52 out of the 90 seats on Bradford Council.

After the final votes were announced on Friday afternoon, the party had 56 - way above the 46 threshold needed for a majority.

Many of those new seats are in areas that were once Tory strongholds, such as Bingley and Wharfedale.

The party is also celebrating the fact that many of its prominent figures, including Leader Susan Hinchcliffe and Deputy Leader Imran Khan, retained their seats.

While Labour councillors were delighted with the results, the Conservatives lost four seats. With 16 seats on the Council, they remain the second biggest party in Bradford, but with a diminished vote.

And having lost the sole Conservative seat in Queensbury, the party no longer has any Councillors in the three Bradford Constituencies (East, West and South).

The situation reflected the national picture, where the Conservatives lost hundreds of seats in what many experts have described as an expected backlash to the Government.

The Green Party continued its remarkable ascendancy. Just a few years ago the party had just two Councillors, both in Shipley.

After last year’s election the party had six. And following Friday’s count, the party now has eight - picking up seats in Tong (from Labour) and Craven (from the Conservatives).

Their victory in Tong means that in just three years the ward has shifted from three Labour Councillors to three Green.

The Liberal Democrats lost one seat - with Labour taking Susan Knox’s Eccleshill seat in Eccleshill. It means that the party drops below the Greens, and is now the fourth biggest party on the Council.

Lib Dems will take solace in the fact that long standing Councillor Jeanette Sunderland easily retained her Idle and Thackley seat.

It was the first election since the Government introduced controversial new rules that required all voters to show photo ID at the polling station.

Returning officer Kersten England said on Friday the data on how many had been turned away from the polls had not yet collated.

But Councillor Dave Green (Lab, Wibsey) said he had spoken to people who had voted all their life who didn’t this year, as they had no photo ID.

He said “People who I know normally vote said it was not worth going to the polling station. The Government plan to suppress votes doesn’t seem to have effected hundreds of people, but it did have a significant impact on parts of my ward.

“If ten people I’m aware of in just one part of Wibsey couldn’t vote then that could reflect around six or seven per cent of the District.”

Imran Khan, Deputy Labour Leader, retained his Bowling and Barkerend seat with 75 per cent of the vote.

He said: “Elections are difficult - it is an opportunity for the electorate to have their say. I believe I have a number of very hard working colleagues, so I wasn’t too worried about the results.

“We try to do the best we can for our residents, despite the chaos of the Tory Government.”

Asked if the national drubbing of the Conservatives was a reflection on public dissatisfaction with the Government, he said: “I think the Tories expected it - as a whole they took a hammering and a lot of that is down to the Government.”