Coun Pinnock, who is the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said she was thrilled with the result and was looking forward to the year ahead.

"I am delighted that we have once again gained the support of the Cleckheaton ward," she said.

"It is one of the biggest majorities we have ever had. I've been a councillor for 21 years but I never take anything for granted. You have to earn the votes.

"Top of my agenda for the coming year is getting a young people's centre in Cleckheaton – the council has agreed to put some money towards this and I am determined that's what we shall have.

"I would also like to see the refurbishment of the memorial park finished. The last phase is for the memorial itself and to get the railings up and give it all a clean. The Hopper bus service has also been popular in Cleckheaton and I would like to see this extended."

Coun Pinnock said she thought all the political parties should now work together for the good of Kirklees, and make decisions together.

She said: "The parties are as finely balanced as they have ever been and to me, all the parties ought to co-operate with each other for the good of the people in Kirklees.

"Last year, we worked with the Conservatives to get our ideas implemented and we hope to do the same this year.

"We worked with them on the young people initiative, to ensure facilities for young people were improved and they all had somewhere to go. We also worked on the safer roads initiative, to make roads safer for pedestrians and road users all over Kirklees and we worked on the green agenda, on the proposals for bio mass fuel. Cleckheaton's town hall is to get a biomass boiler, to help tackle climate change.

"This has all been successful so far and it is important that political parties all carry on working together.

"With the Building Schools for the Future Programme which affects schools across Cleckheaton and the Spen Valley and Batley and Dewsbury, it is such a major decision to make, that no one political party should have the mandate to do it.

"The Conservatives ought to be talking to other parties in order to get a more balanced decision on these big issues. It is the responsibility of each political party to be constructive and to work to get a better outcome, which will in turn benefit the people of Kirklees."