Morley Borough Independents

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Morley Borough Independents
AbbreviationMBI
LeaderRobert Finnigan[1][2]
Founded7 January 2004; 20 years ago (2004-01-07)
HeadquartersSpringfield House
1 Church Street
Gildersome
Leeds
LS27 7AE
IdeologyIndependent politics
Localism
Colours  Green
Leeds City Council[3] (Morley seats)
6 / 6
Morley Town Council[4]
22/26 / 100
Website
morleyindependent.blogspot.com

The Morley Borough Independents (MBI) are a local political party in Leeds, West Yorkshire, founded in 2004.

Their stated aim is to represent the interests of the residents of Morley and the former Municipal Borough of Morley on Leeds City Council, arguing they "are not effected by having to tow the party line laid down in Westminster" by national political parties including the Conservative Party, Labour Party and Liberal Democrats.[5]

History[edit]

Founded in January 2004, prior to the upcoming Leeds City Council election in May, the creation of the Morley Borough Independents formalised an informal grouping of independent council candidates who had stood in the Morley North and Morley South wards since 2002 as well as elected Morley Town Councillors since the Town Council's creation in 2000. They had successfully coordinated the elections of two independent Morley North councillors in 2002 (Robert Finnigan) and 2003 (Thomas Leadley).[6][7]

A number of MBI candidates and councillors had previously stood as candidates for other political parties. Finnigan had been a Labour councillor for Middleton ward from 1995 to 1999 and Leadley had stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Morley South in consecutive elections from 1988 to 1996. Subsequent Morley South councillor, Judith Elliott, had previously stood as the Conservative candidate in the ward in 2003.[8]

In the 2004 election, the party won all six of the council seats it contested across the two Morley wards. In particular, Morley South had been a traditional Labour ward, returning Labour councillors at 22 of the 23 previous elections since 1973. The only exception had been the election of one Conservative councillor in 1983.

One of their Morley North ward councillors, Stewart McArdle, later resigned from the party in May 2005 to sit as an independent member of the council, citing being "cheesed off... [with an] utter lack of communication" in the party but confirmed there was no animosity between him and his former party colleagues. McArdle remained a councillor until he lost his seat at the 2007 election. He then stood as an independent again in Ardsley and Robin Hood ward in 2008 and the Conservative candidate in the same ward in 2010.[9][10]

At the 2006 election, a 10.1% swing away from the MBIs saw the first and only British National Party (BNP) councillor, Chris Beverley, elected in Leeds.[11][12] When Beverley's seat was up for re-election in 2010, the party won the seat back after Shirley Varley defeated him.[13]

In 2009, Judith Elliott was elected as the first Lord Mayor of Leeds from outside of the three major UK parties on Leeds City Council since the creation of the City of Leeds Metropolitan District Council in the Local Government Act 1972.[14][15]

The party stood an official MBI candidate in Ardsley and Robin Hood ward for the first and only time in 2012 election. Wyn Kidger came last out of the four candidates who stood in the ward, receiving 13.6% of the vote. She stood again in 2014 as an independent candidate although supported by the party. She received 9.3% of all of the votes cast, coming out of six candidates. Kidger was later elected as a Morley South ward councillor in 2018.

Finnigan was the founding leader of the MBI's Council Group from 2004 until he lost his bid for re-election in 2018. Having represented Morley North ward since 2002, he chose not to stand again for the ward at the 2018 election and chose to stand as one of the party's three candidates in Morley South instead. Finnigan came third out of the three MBI candidates who stood but, as incumbent Labour councillor Neil Dawson received finished second out of all of the candidates, he was not re-elected.[16]

At the 2019 election, the MBIs retained both of their seats in Morley North and South wards. Finnigan was re-elected as a councillor for Morley North after replacing Tom Leadley as the MBI candidate in the ward. With the party's support, Leadley stood unsuccessfully for Ardsley and Robin Hood as an independent. He therefore became the party's council group leader again, having Judith Elliott taken over the role for the year during Finnigan's absence.

Dawson announced his retirement from the council ahead of the 2021 and Jane Senior went on to gain the final Morley South seat from Labour. For the first time in a decade since 2011, the party now holds all six of the town's city council seats.[17][18][19]

Electoral results[edit]

See also: Leeds City Council elections
Election Total votes Leeds City Council seats
# % city-wide Morley North ± Morley South ± Ardsley & Robin Hood ±
2004 17,292 2.6
3 / 3
 Steady
3 / 3
 Steady did not stand
2006 4,749 2.4
2 / 3
 Decrease1[a]
2 / 3
 Decrease1[b] did not stand
2007 5,454 2.7
3 / 3
 Increase1[c]
2 / 3
 Steady did not stand
2008 6,379 3.3
3 / 3
 Steady
2 / 3
 Steady did not stand
2010 6,900 2.0
3 / 3
 Steady
3 / 3
 Increase1 did not stand
2011 5,718 2.7
3 / 3
 Steady
2 / 3
 Decrease1 did not stand
2012 6,833[d] 3.9
3 / 3
 Steady
2 / 3
 Steady
0 / 3
 Steady
2014 4,726[e] 2.5
3 / 3
 Steady
2 / 3
 Steady
0 / 3
 Steady
2015 6,794 1.9
3 / 3
 Steady
2 / 3
 Steady did not stand
2016 5,079 2.8
3 / 3
 Steady
2 / 3
 Steady did not stand
2018 15,822 2.9
3 / 3
 Steady
2 / 3
 Steady did not stand
2019 6,439[f] 3.3
3 / 3
 Steady
2 / 3
 Steady
0 / 3
 Steady
2021 5,049 2.3
3 / 3
 Steady
3 / 3
 Steady did not stand

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Stewart McArdle resigned from the MBI council group in May 2005.
  2. ^ The MBIs lost a Morley South seat to the BNP.
  3. ^ The MBIs defeated McArdle at the 2007 election.
  4. ^ Wyn Kidger stood as an MBI candidate in Ardsley and Robin Hood ward.
  5. ^ With MBI support, Wyn Kidger stood as an independent candidate in Ardsley and Robin Hood ward.
  6. ^ With MBI support, incumbent Morley North councillor, Tom Leadley, did not stand again in his ward, standing as an independent candidate in Ardsley and Robin Hood ward instead.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Morley Borough Independents". electoralcommission.org.uk. Electoral Commission. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  2. ^ "Councillor Robert Finnigan". democracy.leeds.gov.uk. Leeds City Council. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  3. ^ http://opencouncildata.co.uk/councillors2.php?y=2022
  4. ^ "Councillors". morley.gov.uk. Morley Town Council. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  5. ^ "About Morley Borough Independents". facebook.com. Morley Borough Independents. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Councillor Robert Finnigan". democracy.leeds.gov.uk. Leeds City Council. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  7. ^ "Councillor Thomas Leadley". democracy.leeds.gov.uk. Leeds City Council. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Councillor Judith Elliott". democracy.leeds.gov.uk. Leeds City Council. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  9. ^ "Councillor Stewart McArdle". democracy.leeds.gov.uk. Leeds City Council. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  10. ^ "MBI councillor in resignation shock". morleyobserver.co.uk. Morley Observer. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  11. ^ "Councillor Christopher James Beverley". democracy.leeds.gov.uk. Leeds City Council. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  12. ^ "BNP doubles number of councillors". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  13. ^ "Councillor Shirley Varley". democracy.leeds.gov.uk. Leeds City Council. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  14. ^ "Political row over next Lord Mayor of Leeds". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  15. ^ "Leeds new Lord Mayor". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  16. ^ "Leeds City Council's new faces after local elections". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  17. ^ "Councillor Neil Dawson". facebook.com. Councillor Neil Dawson. 8 February 2020.
  18. ^ "Tories take Ardsley and Robin Hood from Labour in sole local election victory". Leeds Live. Reach plc. 8 May 2021.
  19. ^ "Labour holds Leeds City Council in 2021 local elections". Yorkshire Evening Post. 8 May 2021.
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