THE Labour group on Bradford Council had to re-run an internal vote after a discrepancy with the ballot papers was noticed, it has emerged.

The group of councillors met privately this week to decide who to elect to various positions within the council.

But the Telegraph & Argus understands that when councillors were voting to decide who would chair overview and scrutiny committees, there were two more votes cast than there were voters in the room.

The round of voting was re-held.

Yesterday, Bradford Council’s new leader, Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, declined to comment on the specific circumstances.

MORE TOP STORIES

But she said: “What I can say is that the chair always ensures that the outcome of any election is free and fair, with results verified by two tellers.”

Cllr Hinchcliffe has also labelled as “disappointing” claims that two senior Labour figures were behind her leadership challenge against her predecessor, Cllr David Green, the week before.

Cllr Hinchcliffe, who officially became the leader of the council on Tuesday, dismissed claims that Bradford East MP Imran Hussain, who is still a district councillor, and former council leader Ian Greenwood, who lost his council seat in 2012, had been behind her campaign to lead the authority.

She said: “Ian Greenwood is a former leader of Bradford Council but has not been a councillor for several years now. The only people with votes in a leadership election are Labour councillors.

“Imran Hussain was absent on that evening and therefore did not participate in the vote.

“To be honest it’s a bit disappointing for anyone to assume that just because a woman is now leading the Labour Party in Bradford, two men had to be behind it.”

Cllr Hussain said he had not even been at the meeting where Cllr Hinchcliffe was elected.

And Mr Greenwood said: “Susan Hinchcliffe is a mature and thoughtful woman who happens to be my local councillor. I am absolutely confident any decision she took would be entirely off her own bat and on her own terms.”

Meanwhile, Bradford West MP Naz Shah has held a meeting with Cllr Hinchcliffe for the first time since she became leader.

Before the meeting, Ms Shah said she was keen to understand why there had been a change in leadership, given Labour’s good local election results.

Afterwards, Ms Shah said: “She has given me some assurances. What she has said is to let the results speak for themselves, so let’s give her time to settle in and do what she has got to do.”

But Councillor Simon Cooke, leader of the council’s opposition Conservative group, said it was clear the ruling Labour group was deeply divided and he was worried the Labour group was “more concerned about in-fighting within its own ranks” than providing a good leadership of the council.