Student wards: What happened in your area?

Labour gained two seats in the popular student areas of Broomhill and Walkley, while the Lib Dems and Greens held onto Crookes, Fulwood and Central.

Former council leader Paul Scriven lost his seat in Broomhill, after Jayne Dunn won 1303 votes to beat him by 494 ballots. The Greens managed to push Scriven into third.

Reacting after the defeat, Scriven said: “I go away with my head held high. Sheffield has given me a great opportunity to lead the city for three years.

“This is not the end of the book of the Liberal Democrats in Sheffield – it is the start of a new chapter.”

Meanwhile, the national trend continued in Walkley as Liberal Democrat Diane Wainwright Leek lost by over 1300 votes to Labour’s Neale Gibson.

There was however better news for the Liberal Democrats in Crookes and Fulwood, two other popular student wards.

Rob Frost and Susan Alston both comfortably held onto the seats and provided some cheer on what was a very disappointing day for the party.

The Central ward will again be represented by Rob Murphy, who fought off the Labour challenge to claim 2165 votes. However, the ward registered one of the city’s lowest turnouts at just 21.28 per cent.

After his re-election, Murphy said the result showed the Greens were slowly becoming a political force in the city, after picking up a higher share of the vote in other wards.

He said: “We work hard in the area; we represent the people of Central ward to the best of our ability.

“We are moving forward across the city.”