Reform UK councillor Karl Johnson is set to become the new leader of Wakefield Council after his party swept to control of the authority in Thursday’s local elections, ending Labour’s grip on the area after more than half a century. Johnson, who represents Stanley and Outwood East, was chosen as Reform’s group leader at a meeting at Wakefield Town Hall on Monday, with John Thomas elected deputy leader.
Reform took 58 of the 63 council seats, leaving Labour with just one. Johnson said Wakefield would “always come first in every decision we take,” and said it was “a great honour” to be elected group leader and nominated as the new council leader. He thanked residents who trusted Reform UK to “bring change” and promised the party would work “flat out” to repay that faith and “deliver for everyone in our district.”
The scale of the result is stark. Labour had controlled Wakefield Council continuously since 1974, but the party’s long run ended in a single night that reduced it to one seat. For Reform, the victory gives it a dominant position on the council and puts Johnson at the center of the party’s first test of local power in the district.
Johnson is no stranger to Wakefield politics. He was first elected in 2019 to represent Wakefield South as a Conservative councillor, quit the Conservative Party in 2023 and continued to sit as an independent, then lost that seat to Labour before returning to the council with Reform in 2026. Thomas, who represents Altofts and Whitwood, said it was “a real privilege” to be elected by colleagues as deputy leader of Reform UK and nominated as the next deputy leader of Wakefield Council. He said he looked forward to being part of a “strong Reform UK leadership team” focused every day on making life better for residents, wherever they live in the district.
Johnson and Thomas will not formally take the helm until the council’s annual general meeting on 20 May, but the direction of travel is already clear. Wakefield has moved decisively from one of Labour’s longest-held local power bases to a council now headed by Reform, and the new leadership will be judged quickly on whether it can turn a landslide into day-to-day control.
