[2] Before the election Labour held 50 of the 63 seats on the council and this was seen as being an insurmountable majority for the other parties.
[3] However the Conservatives stood a full slate of 63 candidates and were hopeful of making gains due to dissatisfaction among Labour supporters.
[3] All postal voting in the election was expected to increase turnout, which was seen by analysts as making the results difficult to predict.
[6][7] The Liberal Democrats held their 3 seats in Ossett but neither they nor the British National Party made any gains.
[8] Labour saw the results as not being as bad as they could have been given the losses the party was suffering nationally, which was put down to improved services and listening to local people.