2023 Hyndburn Borough Council election

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2023 Hyndburn Borough Council election
  2022 4 May 2023 2024  

12 of 35 seats to Hyndburn Borough Council
18 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  No image wide.svg No image wide.svg
LeaderMarlene HaworthMunsif Dad
Party Conservative Labour
Seats before1513
Seats after1616
Seat changeIncrease2.svg1Increase2.svg3

 Third partyFourth party
  No image wide.svg No image wide.svg
LeaderMiles ParkinsonPaddy Short
Party Independent Green
Seats before52
Seats after12
Seat changeDecrease2.svg4Steady2.svg

Hyndburn UK local election 2023 map revised.png
2023 local election results in Hyndburn
   Labour
  Not contested

Leader before election

Miles Parkinson
Independent
No overall control

Leader after election

Marlene Haworth
Conservative
No overall control

The 2023 Hyndburn Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect 12 of the 35 members of Hyndburn Borough Council in Lancashire, England, being the usual approximate third of the council. [1] [2] This was on the same day as other local elections across England. The council remained under no overall control, and the leader of the council, independent councillor Miles Parkinson, lost his seat. A Conservative minority administration subsequently formed.

Contents

Background

Before the election, Labour had a minority of 13 councillors, and a coalition of the Conservatives 15 councillors, along with 5 Independent councillors and 2 Green councillors had been in control of this Hyndburn Borough Council following the May 2022 elections, with former Labour leader turned Independent, Miles Parkinson, continuing to serve as council leader, for the past year.

Labour were defending 8 seats and Conservatives were defending 4 seats. Five of the previous Labour-won seats and one of the previous Conservative-won seats, from 2019, were held by councillors who have since quit the party or switched to another party. One former Labour seat, which was vacated last year forcing a by-election, was subsequently won by a Conservative candidate, who was standing again, for a full 4 year term.

As a result of the Elections Act 2022 electors will, for the first time, be asked to present photographic identification to polling staff in order to cast their vote. Postal voters are not affected.

Council composition

Prior to the election the composition of the council was:

In this election, there were 12 Labour Party candidates, 11 Conservative Party candidates, 7 Independent candidates, 5 Green Party candidates, 2 Liberal Democrats candidates and 1 Reform UK candidate.

Of the 7 Independent candidates running, two different candidates were running in both the Altham and Milnshaw wards and the remaining three candidates were running alone in the Barnfield, Huncoat and Overton wards. The Greens were running five candidates, across the Baxenden, Clayton-le-Moors, Overton, Rishton and St. Oswald's wards. The Liberal Democrats were running just two candidates, in the Rishton and St. Oswald's wards. The single Reform UK candidate was only running in the Clayton-le-Moors ward. And in only the three wards of Central, Church and Immanuel, were there just two-candidates running (Labour vs Conservative).

Hyndburn Borough Council's two existing Green Party councillors (Paddy Short & Caroline Montague) and only one of the current sitting Independent councillors (Joyce Plummer) are not up for re-election this year. Of the other four existing Independent councillors, just two (Miles and June) would be standing for re-election this year and where the other two (Eamonn and Patrick) were standing-down.

Overview

Before the election the council was run by a coalition of the Conservatives (15 councillors) and independents (5 councillors), with independent councillor Miles Parkinson being leader of the council. He had previously been a Labour councillor and had led a Labour majority administration from 2011 until early 2022 when he and several others left Labour to sit as independents, putting the council under no overall control. [3] [4] Parkinson remainder leader of the council with support from the Conservatives and independents. The Labour group immediately prior to the 2023 election had 13 councillors, and there were also two Green councillors (both of whom had originally been elected as Labour councillors). [5] [6] [7]

After the election both Labour and the Conservatives were left with 16 councillors. None of the independent or other party candidates who stood were elected. [2] It was announced shortly after the election that a minority Conservative administration would operate with informal support from the Greens and the remaining independent councillor. [8] In the event, the two Green councillors did not attend the subsequent annual council meeting on 18 May 2023, when a Conservative minority administration led by Marlene Haworth was voted into office with the support of the one independent councillor. [9] [10]

Local election result

The majority grouping of councillors as the headline result of the election, was tied; with both the Conservative party and the Labour Party each holding 16-seats; two seats short of the 18+ majority needed for full control.

After this election, the composition of the council's 35 seats was -

The overall results were: [2] [11]

2023 Hyndburn Borough Council election
PartyThis electionFull councilThis election
SeatsNetSeats %OtherTotalTotal %VotesVotes %+/−
  Labour 7Increase2.svg358.391645.78,05851.9+6.0
  Conservative 5Increase2.svg141.7111645.75,49635.4-7.4
  Independent 0Decrease2.svg40.0112.91,3318.6+1.9
  Green 0Steady2.svg0.0225.73592.3N/A
  Liberal Democrats 0Steady2.svg0.0000.0930.6N/A
  Reform UK 0Steady2.svg0.0000.0880.6-3.1

The overall turnout was 33.76%.

NB: Four (of the 16) Council wards, where seats will NOT be up for re-election in 2023, include the following wards - Netherton, Peel, Spring Hill and St. Andrews' in Oswaldtwistle.

Previous Councillors who are looking to Stand-Down in May 2023 included – Eamonn Higgins (Labour - Huncoat) and Patrick McGinley (Independent - Overton).

Ward results

Following the notice of election, the statement of persons nominated was released on 5 April 2023. [12] [13] The results for each ward were as follows, with an asterisk(*) indicating a sitting councillor standing for re-election. [1] [14] [15] [16]

Altham

Altham
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Stephen Button 638 51.53 −7.32
Independent Miles Parkinson*51441.52N/A
Independent Wayne Fitzharris766.14N/A
Majority 12410.01N/A
Rejected ballots70.57
Turnout 1,23831.883.41
Registered electors 3,883
Labour gain from Independent

The previous incumbent, Miles Parkinson, had been elected as a Labour councillor but had left the party and was standing as an Independent in this election. [17]

Barnfield

Barnfield
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Michael David Booth 414 41.23 −19.76
Independent June Lillian Mary Harrison*39038.84N/A
Conservative Shahed Mahmood19619.52−15.14
Majority 242.39N/A
Rejected ballots40.40
Turnout 1,00430.660.42
Registered electors 3,275
Labour gain from Independent

The previous incumbent, June Harrison, had been elected as a Labour councillor in 2019 but had left the party in May 2022 and sat as an independent for the remainder of her term. [18]

Baxenden

Baxenden
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Kathleen Iris Pratt*
(Kath Pratt)
549 47.95 −6.68
Labour Zoe Clare Emmett52045.412.73
Green Louise Clare Preston696.03N/A
Majority 292.54N/A
Rejected ballots70.61
Turnout 1,14536.65−0.83
Registered electors 3,124
Conservative hold Swing -4.71

Central

Central
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Mohammed Younis 1,043 51.61 11.44
Labour Mohammad Ayub*95947.45−11.37
Majority 844.16N/A
Rejected ballots170.84
Turnout 2,02152.413.17
Registered electors 3,856
Conservative gain from Labour Swing 11.41

Church

Church
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Loraine Cox* 581 51.14 17.18
Labour Jemshad Ahmed54748.15−14.21
Majority 342.99N/A
Rejected ballots70.62
Turnout 1,13632.272.75
Registered electors 3,520
Conservative hold Swing 15.70

Loraine Cox had been elected as a Labour councillor in 2019 but had left the party in 2022 and later joined the Conservatives. [19] Her husband Paul stood for Labour and won in the Milnshaw ward. [20]

Clayton-le-Moors

Clayton-le-Moors
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Melissa Margaret Fisher* 590 53.44 2.17
Conservative Bernadette Parkinson38034.42−8.37
Reform UK Richard John Oakley887.97N/A
Green Alia Qadar Blacow474.26N/A
Majority 21019.02N/A
Rejected ballots40.36
Turnout 1,10432.254.02
Registered electors 3,423
Labour hold Swing 5.27

Huncoat

Huncoat
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour David Parkins 915 79.15 17.63
Conservative Jordan Fox17314.96−15.06
Independent David James Navin585.02N/A
Majority 74264.19N/A
Rejected ballots100.87
Turnout 1,15632.725.07
Registered electors 3,533
Labour gain from Independent Swing 16.35

The previous incumbent, Eamonn Higgins, had been elected as a Labour councillor in 2019 but left the party in March 2022 and sat as an independent for the remainder of his term. [21] He did not stand for re-election.

Immanuel

Immanuel
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Judith Helen Addison* 572 54.11 −11.88
Labour Andrew Peter Gilbert46744.1814.44
Majority 1059.93N/A
Rejected ballots181.70
Turnout 1,05731.074.64
Registered electors 3,402
Conservative hold Swing -13.16

Milnshaw

Milnshaw
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Paul Ian Cox* 605 58.34 −4.35
Independent Malcolm Eric Pritchard20719.96N/A
Conservative Andrew Philip Lund19518.802.58
Independent Navid Mohammed Afzal242.31N/A
Majority 39838.38N/A
Rejected ballots60.57
Turnout 1,03729.18−1.33
Registered electors 3,554
Labour hold

Overton

Overton
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Heather Margaret Anderson 920 62.54 17.73
Conservative Ken James Moss40527.53−23.36
Green Julie Carole Stubbins805.44N/A
Independent Paul Graeme Knighton624.21N/A
Majority 51535.01N/A
Rejected ballots40.27
Turnout 1,47131.510.38
Registered electors 4,669
Labour gain from Independent Swing 20.55

The previous incumbent, Patrick McGinley, had been elected as a Conservative councillor in 2019 but left the party in January 2021 and sat as an independent for the remainder of his term. [22] He did not stand for re-election.

Rishton

Rishton
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Katie-Louise Walsh*
(Kate Walsh)
880 55.66 5.84
Conservative David Heap59537.63−7.67
Green Alexis Lee Kristan
(Lex Kristan)
633.98N/A
Liberal Democrats Adam John Thomas Waller-Slack352.21N/A
Majority 28517.93N/A
Rejected ballots70.44
Turnout 1,58132.235.56
Registered electors 4,906
Labour hold Swing 6.76

St Oswald's

St Oswald's
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Zak Khan* 807 51.33 19.07
Labour Stewart Thurston Eaves60338.36−1.34
Green Michael David Miller1006.36N/A
Liberal Democrats Beth Waller-Slack583.69N/A
Majority 20412.97N/A
Rejected ballots30.19
Turnout 1,57232.68−0.48
Registered electors 4,811
Conservative hold Swing 10.21

References

  1. 1 2 Kemp, Ellie (5 May 2023). "Election results from Hyndburn local council election 2023 count in full". Manchester Evening News . Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "Hyndburn election result". BBC News. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  3. Jacobs, Bill (25 March 2022). "Hyndburn Council boss quits 'bullying and vindictive' Labour Party". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  4. Jacobs, Bill (21 April 2023). "Hyndburn boss fights for future as Tories and Labour contest control". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  5. "Paddy & Caroline join Green party". Lancs Live . 27 September 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  6. Jacobs, Bill (21 April 2023). "Hyndburn boss fights for future as Tories and Labour contest control". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  7. "Hyndburn Borough Council - Your councillors by political party". The Hyndburn Borough Council. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  8. Jacobs, Bill (10 May 2023). "Conservatives set to control Hyndburn with Green Party support". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  9. Jacobs, Bill (10 May 2023). "Greens say no formal coalition with Hyndburn Conservatives". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  10. Jacobs, Bill (19 May 2023). "Hyndburn Tories take control of divided council by two votes". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  11. Earnshaw, Tom (5 May 2023). "Hyndburn Borough Council local election results 2023 in full". Lancs Live. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  12. "Notice of Election". Hyndburn Borough Council. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  13. "Statement of Persons Nominated". Hyndburn Borough Council. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  14. "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Hyndburn Borough Council. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  15. "Hyndburn Local Election". Democracy Club. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  16. Earnshaw, Tom (5 May 2023). "Lancashire local election results: Live updates as Labour advance while Tories lose grasp". Lancs Live. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  17. Jagger, David (12 April 2023). "Local Elections 2023: Every candidate standing in Lancashire". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  18. Jacobs, Bill (20 May 2022). "Hynburn boss called 'racist' as Independents and Tories take over". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  19. Jacobs, Bill (23 August 2022). "Another Hyndburn Labour councillor quit civil war-torn party". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  20. Jacobs, Bill (5 May 2023). "Hyndburn poll leaves council and married political couple split". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  21. Jacobs, Bill (31 March 2022). "Hyndburn Labour 'a disgrace' says fourth senior councillor to quit". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  22. Jacobs, Bill (14 January 2021). "Why Hyndburn Tory councillor has quit the party". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 7 May 2023.