By KLTV Newsdesk –

Kirklees’ Labour group has elected Greenhead Ward Councillor Carole Pattison as their new leader at their Annual Meeting held on Monday, May 13th.

Cllr Pattison will take over from Cllr Cathy Scott, the previous leader, who had stated her intention to retain the position.

Cllr Graham Turner, who represents Golcar, was also reportedly a contender for the leadership role.

The evening’s meeting saw further changes with Deputy Leader Cllr Paul Davies following through with his announcement to step down and focus on his parliamentary ambitions for the Colne Valley constituency.

Councillor Moses Crook, who represents Holme Valley South takes over the Deputy Leader position.

While Councillor Pattison’s appointment signifies a shift in group leadership, it is understood that doesn’t mean she will immediately transition to become leader of Kirklees Council.

The position for overall council leadership will need to be decided by a vote at next week’s Annual Council meeting.

The role change comes after a damning few weeks for the labour party in Kirklees. They lost four seats in the May 2^nd Elections leading to the loss of their overall majority of the council.

Alongside this, five councillors have resigned from the Labour Party over the last few months for various reasons.

The councillors are Ammar Anwar (Dewsbury West), Ebrahim Dockrat, (Batley East), Jo Lawson, Imran Safdar (Crosland Moor and Netherton), and most recently Musarrat Khan who criticised Sir Kier Starmer’s leadership of the national party.

In February, it was reported that Cllr Jo Lawson and Imran Safdar resigned from the party due to “long-standing disagreements with the national leadership over the disappointing positions on Palestine and arms sales to various regimes across the Middle East.”

It was claimed in an article by the Huddersfield Hub that Cllr Khan resigned after being suspended from the Labour Party. Cllr Khan was allegedly under investigation for several matters including “antisemitism”.

Cllr Khan has since said in a statement that the allegations are “baseless and reflect a toxic and bullying environment within Kirklees Labour Group”.

At this moment in time, the group remains the largest on the council, with 30 of the total 69 seats.