Sheffield City Council elections: Green scores big win over LibDems in Ecclesall

Peter unseated veteran LibDem councillor Roger Davison in a ward that was previously all-LibDem, winning by a margin of 396 votes. Ecclesall is also the ward of LibDem group leader Coun Shaffaq Mohammed.

The Greens still have 14 seats on the council as they lost Walkley ward to Labour, where long-standing Green councillor Bernard Little had stepped down. They held City, where group leader Douglas Johnson was re-elected, Nether Edge and Sharrow, Hillsborough, Gleadless Valley and Broomhill and Sharrow Vale.

The Greens are the third biggest party on the council. Labour have increased their number of seats to 36 but the LibDems have now dropped back to 27.

Peter Gilbert said: “I think Ecclesall is a ward with people who know what’s going on in the world. They know that they live in a beautiful part of the city and I think they’ve shown with this vote that they want councillors who care about the whole of the city and the whole of the world to represent them.”

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He said that he thought people were “ready for a breath of fresh air” and that’s why they voted for him: “I think people in Ecclesall had started to feel that they would never get anything but LibDems.

“Clearly now they’re ready for change and Green politics isn’t just about hugging trees – Green politics is about healthy and safe streets and jobs.”

Peter said that key issues in the election in his ward were public transport, road safety and climate action.

He added: “One thing I’d really like to look at is a safe, segregated cycle way up Ringinglow Road because if we really want to call Sheffield the Outdoor City we have to make it accessible safely.”