Veterans are welcomed back to fold
APPLAUSE AS BY-ELECTION WINNERS TAKE SEATS FOR FIRST COUNCIL MEETING SINCE DECEMBER POLL
TORY stalwart Donna Bellamy and Labour veteran Eric Firth took their seats in the council chamber in Huddersfield Town Hall on Wednesday evening for their first meeting since being re-elected as councillors last month.
The two by-elections – in Colne Valley and Dewsbury East – took place on December 12, the same day as the General Election.
Clr Bellamy regained the Colne Valley seat she lost to Labour last May, and Clr Firth was successful in Dewsbury East.
Both the Colne Valley and Dewsbury East seats became vacant following the resignations of Labour councillors Nell Griffiths and Paul Kane.
Ms Griffiths resigned on the grounds of ill health.
Mr Kane resigned and tragically died suddenly later the same day.
Clrs Firth and Bellamy were formally welcomed back to the council by chief executive Jacqui Gedman, and received a round of applause from colleagues across the political spectrum.
Clr Firth will only serve on Kirklees Council for five months as his seat will be up for election again in May this year.
Clr Bellamy, who had served the Colne Valley ward for eight years until she was defeated by Labour’s Lesley Warner nine months ago, will serve just over two years and face re-election in 2022.
There were also tributes to former Kirklees councillor Chris Harpin, who has died.
A Labour member for the Denby Dale ward and former deputy leader of the Labour group, he was described by his friend and colleague Clr Graham Turner as “a really good man who went out of his way to help others.”
He added: “He will be sorely missed.”
And Clr Gwen Lowe (Lab, Batley West), who was Mayor of Kirklees during 2018/19, was presented with a book commemorating her mayoral year by the current mayor, Clr Mumtaz Hussain.