We're turning two in April and we really don't know where the time has gone. It's been an amazing two years with lots to be proud of but we're still nowhere near where we want to be journalistically or financially. So we're going to pivot, widen our reach, rebrand 🧵

Paul Golding of the Worth Valley @conservatives.bsky.social has won the controversial #worthvalley #byelection with 52% of the vote, helping the party retain the seat after it was triggered by @reformuk.bsky.social (which ended up in second place with 26% of the vote).

"I will stand up for local people, protect our countryside and focus on the issues that really matter" – Josie McMaster, @bradfordgreens.bsky.social candidate for the Worth Valley by-election to @bradfordcouncil.bsky.social

"I will be a strong local voice for the residents of Worth Valley" – Kay Kirkham, Liberal Democrat candidate for the Worth Valley by-election to @bradfordcouncil.bsky.social

"I pledge to you that I will always represent local views and needs with honesty, transparency and integrity" – Sabine Ebert-Forbes, Independent candidate for the Worth Valley by-election to @bradfordcouncil.bsky.social

"I will stand up against Labour-run Bradford Council and their relentless attacks on our local services" – Paul Golding, Conservative candidate for the Worth Valley by-election to @bradfordcouncil.bsky.social

"I believe that representing this community is about one thing: public service, not self-service" – Peter Kates, @teamlabouruk.bsky.social candidate for the Worth Valley by-election to @bradfordcouncil.bsky.social

The 2026 Centre for Cities Outlook finds that Bradford remains one of the 10 worst-performing cities across many key areas. Link below ↓ #Bradford #CostOfLivingCrisis #NorthSouthDivide #UKPolitics #PovertyAwareness #LevellingUp #WestYorkshire #EconomicInequality #UKEconomy #SocialJustice

Bradford Council urged to request grooming gang inquiry inclusion, Worth Valley by-election candidates revealed, water whitepaper criticised … a week in West Yorkshire rounded up. Link below ↓

Great to see that there is growing support for high-quality, professional and human-generated journalism, with a 2026 State of the Nation poll by Newsworks finding that:

Next week, West Yorkshire #communists are holding a Burns Night Supper in Ilkley at the Clarke Foley Community Hub to raise money for the #Palestine Solidarity Campaign while celebrating the life and radical poetry of #RobertBurns. Link below to find out more ↓

Reform UK have triggered a by-election in the Worth Valley ahead of the 2026 Bradford Council local elections in May. Was it the right thing to do? Tap on the link below for our take. #WorthValley #Keighley #BradfordCouncil #byelection #Tories #Labour #LibDems #TheGreens #ReformUK #localelections

Kate's subscribed. Will you also back local news that aspires to do things differently?

Ahead of Varna Ballet Company's performance of #Cinderella at #BradfordLive this month, we caught up with one of its dancers for a quick Q&A. Link below.

In our latest roundup, local councillors and MPs share their New Year’s messages, our newish reserve makes it on a list of wonders of the world for 2026 and, among other things, parking charges and Ilkley’s 20mph zone are once again under the spotlight. Link below.

Councillor Luke Maunsell from Keighley Town Council is up for young councillor of the year at the National Association of Local Councils’ #StarCouncilAwards.

On Monday, #IlkleyTownCouncil will meet to discuss, among other things, the latest with the 20mph zone – namely to consider the completion certificate and invoice, as well as approval of payment. You can catch up on some of the background below.

From a revealing interview with the CSE survivor and advocate Fiona Goddard to a feature on the battle for the heart and soul of Ilkley Tarn (ducks on one side, frogs on the other) and a satirical sketch covering an Ilkley Town Council meeting to ...

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas 🎄

Hello! Okay, so it’s Tuesday 23 December – and that means two more sleeps before Christmas Day! If you’re still looking for last-minute ideas, then allow us to kindly suggest what we think is a very good idea … The Ilkley Journal.

The latest news in Ilkley, the Bradford District and West Yorkshire rounded up. Link below ↓

We're keen to know what our readers and residents in West Yorkshire more generally think about the BBC Charter Review. Please add your comments below. Thank you 📺 📸 Image credit: GOV.UK

The grooming gang survivor and advocate for CSE victims, Fiona Goddard, on her past, her present and her future. Link below ↓ #FionaGoddard #CSESurvivor #NationalGroomingGangsInquiry #GroomingGangsInquiry #ChildSexualExploitation #CSE #GroomingGangs

Hello there! We’ll keep it short because the most wonderful time of the year is also one of the busiest! As one of our followers, you have a pretty good idea about what we’re about, what we’re looking to do and why we matter.

Get up to speed with the latest in #WestYorkshire, including the appointment of a local figure as the chair of the independent inquiry into #groominggangs, the thoughts of the local MP on #digitalIDs and #YorkshireWater ending the #hosepipeban. Link below ↓ 📸 Image credit: House of Commons

Bradford Council wants to save £60.6 million in the next financial year. Here’s how it plans on doing that. Link below ↓ #BradfordCouncil #BradfordBudget #CouncilCuts #£60MillionSavings #LocalGovFinance #CouncilTax #BCFT #BradfordSavings #LocalElections2026 #WestYorkshire #BradfordPolitics

Yes, there are lots of cool and useful things you can buy this #BlackFriday, some satisfying tat even, but how about investing some of November's hard-earned cash that has lit up your bank account paycheque in something that will leave your mind a little richer, the world a little better?

Should your MP support the Climate and Nature Bill? Have your say here: www.suffrago.org/.../cmi7oo5a...

A grumpy-looking toad in a #MakeAmericaGreatAgain style hat and a cheery-looking duck dressed in a sailor’s outfit feature in a local campaign that has been making its presence felt in Ilkley. And at the heart of it lies one of the town’s most iconic beauty spots: Ilkley Tarn.

“The water quality was really good at Bolton Abbey, but at the end of the day’s walk we tested again after Ben Rhydding and the results were the worst possible score on the chart. For the water quality to deteriorate so quickly was shocking.”

It's a duckin' good life ... new feature in the works. Sign up below to get it first 🦆

Is #Ilkley a bit of a dinosaur? We ask after it was revealed that Ilkley Town Council's planning committee had agreed to object to replacing the dated and very neglected phone box on The Grove with a modern BT Street Hub. Comment with your responses below.

“Our natural world, like the planet earth, is one of our kind. Everything it consists of, from the complex, delicate and harmonious balance of animals, plants, rivers and trees to all the phenomenon that takes place beneath the thin kármán line, is exceptional ..."

On this day of remembrance, take a moment to learn more about the men and women from #Ilkley who served during the #firstworldwar on Ilkley Remembers, an archive put together by local resident Edward Wild: ilkleyremembers.blogspot.com

“As a survivor of grooming gangs and now an advocate working to expose what went wrong, I’m constantly asked: why do we need a specific inquiry into grooming gangs? Here’s my response.”

It's #JournalismMatters Week. If you believe in the work we're doing, please sign up today to as a paid member. We really need your support to offer an alternative to local news in #WestYorkshire. Link below.

"I often think about what I’d fund in Keighley and Ilkley if someone offered me a million pounds to spend, no strings attached ..."

Living as we do in the long aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and a post-meaningful world of growth – coupled with the anti-worker agenda of AI ...

Going live this week: race-related hate crime, immigration, identity and economics ... 🇬🇧

🚰 Councillor Ros Brown is quoted in the @theilkleyjournal.co.uk talking about the 'essential' need to bring water back into public ownership. Full story 👇

Our essay next week looks at how this kind of disturbing racist language is unashamedly being voiced without fear of reproach and no sense of shame …

District council meetings are a big deal. Especially the full council meetings. The ones where most councillors turn up. The ones where lots of important decisions get discussed and debated. The ones that affect us all. But ask yourself: when was the last time you turned up to one?

Yorkshire Water 1 of 3 water companies “responsible” for 81% of serious pollution incidents ... discover more by tapping on the link below ...

Katie Lam is a Conservative MP "tipped" as a future leader of the party. She is only 34. Her comments are just the latest example of how far attitudes about multiculturalism and the language around race, ethnicity and identity have changed in the UK ...

“A breath in. A breath out. I thrust myself forward and I’m submerged in the chilled waters of the lake. It’s a shock to the system, but I manage to keep my breathing controlled …” Discover more from @eibhlisgc.bsky.social by tapping on the link below 🔗

The latest news in Ilkley and West Yorkshire. Link below 🔗

Yep. We're on YouTube now. It is what it is: www.youtube.com/@TheIlkleyJo...

Dropping next week – with a little pictorial teaser.

Ever heard of the Budget Reference Document? The one for 2025–26? Didn’t think so. It’s around 375 pages long … … and packed with approximately 30,000 words (and numbers). It’s an important document about the council’s finances. Which directly affects you. Yet, we bet, no one knows about it.

“There was, as you’d expect in a small, reasonably well to do town like Ilkley, outrage when it was revealed that the household waste and recycling centre on Golden Butts Road, along with two other waste recycling sites in the district, were at risk of closure …” Read on by tapping the link below 🔗