2024 Burnley Borough Council election

2024 Burnley Borough Council election

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15 out of 45 seats to Burnley Borough Council 23 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Mark Townsend [a] Alan Hosker Party Labour Independent Conservative Leader's seat Brunshaw Hapton with Park Seats before 11 12 8 Seats after 15 10 8 Seat change 4 2   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Howard Baker Scott Cunliffe Party Liberal Democrats Green Leader's seat Coalclough with Deerplay Cliviger with Worsthorne Seats before 7 7 Seats after 7 5 Seat change 2
The winner of each seat in the 2024 Burnley Borough Council Election
Leader before election Afrasiab Anwar Independent No overall control Leader after election Afrasiab Anwar Independent No overall control

The 2024 Burnley Borough Council election was held on Thursday 2 May 2024, alongside the other local elections in the United Kingdom on the same day. One-third of the 45 members of Burnley Borough Council in Lancashire were elected.

Summary

Prior to the election, the council was under no overall control. Following the previous election in 2023, a minority Labour administration had been running the council. ^[1] However, in October 2023, eleven councillors left the Labour Party over the party's stance on the Gaza war. They then sat as a group of independent councillors called the 'Burnley Independent Group', which formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats and Green Party, which together held a majority of the seats on the council. ^{[2] [3]}

The 2024 election saw the Labour party regain some of the seats they had held at the 2023 election. However, they were unable to secure a majority of the seats, and the council remained under no overall control. The coalition of the Burnley Independent Group, Liberal Democrats and Greens continued to form the council's administration after the election, albeit as a minority administration having lost the majority it had held prior to the election. ^[4]

Previous council composition

After 2023 election			Before 2024 election [5]			After 2024 election
Party		Seats	Party		Seats	Party		Seats
	Labour	21		Labour	11		Labour	15
	Independent	0		Independent	12		Independent	10
	Conservative	7		Conservative	8		Conservative	8
	Liberal Democrats	7		Liberal Democrats	7		Liberal Democrats	7
	Green	7		Green	7		Green	5
	BAPIP	3		BAPIP	0		BAPIP	Dissolved

Changes:

• August 2023: BAPIP dissolved - Charlie Briggs, Neil Mottershead and Mark Payne sit as independents ^[6]
• September 2023: Charlie Briggs (independent) joins Labour; ^[7] Andy Fewings (Green) resigns - by-election held October 2023
• October 2023: Afrasiab Anwar, Saeed Chaudhary, Shah Hussain, Mohammed Ishtiaq, Nussrat Kazmi, Syeda Kazmi, Arif Khan, Lubna Khan, Sehrish Lone, Asif Raja, and Christine Sollis leave Labour to sit as independents; ^{[b] [8]} Alexander Hall (Green) wins by-election ^[9]
• February 2024: Neil Mottershead (independent) joins Conservatives ^[10]

Results

Borough of Burnley Council's composition after the 2024 local elections

2024 Burnley Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	6	1	40.0	9	15	33.3	6,343	32.4	-9.8
	Conservative	3	1	20.0	5	8	17.8	5,159	26.3	+3.8
	Independent	3	3	20.0	7	10	22.2	4,292	21.9	+16.8
	Liberal Democrats	2		13.3	5	7	15.6	1,804	9.2	-4.3
	Green	1	2	6.7	4	5	11.1	1,981	10.1	-6.6

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Burnley Borough Council following the close of nominations. ^[11] An asterisk denotes an incumbent councillor seeking re-election.

Bank Hall

Bank Hall ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Lubna Khan*	737	55.0	N/A
	Labour	Hannah Till	456	34.0	−40.1
	Conservative	Susan Nutter	147	11.0	+0.6
Majority			281
Turnout
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Lubna Khan was elected in 2021 as a Labour councillor.

Briercliffe

Briercliffe ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Lishman*	497	41.1	−8.5
	Labour	Pete Coles	468	38.7	+10.0
	Conservative	Richard Sagar	182	15.1	−2.6
	Green	Julie Hurt	61	5.0	+1.0
Majority			29
Turnout
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Brunshaw

Brunshaw ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shaun Sproule	520	50.6	+5.3
	Green	Andrew Newhouse	268	26.1	−14.6
	Conservative	Claire Ingham	209	20.4	+6.4
	Independent	Mubashar Lone	30	2.9	N/A
Majority			252
Turnout
	Labour gain from Green		Swing

Cliviger with Worsthorne

Cliviger with Worsthorne ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ivor Emo	955	54.7	+12.7
	Green	Scott Cunliffe*	575	32.9	−11.2
	Labour	Carol Lukey	161	9.2	+0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Gorgyanna Kenzington	55	3.2	−2.4
Majority			380
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Green		Swing

Coal Clough with Deerplay

Coal Clough with Deerplay ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jacqueline Inckle*	450	40.4	−6.6
	Labour	Jeff Slee	380	34.1	+11.2
	Conservative	Tom Watson	210	18.8	−1.7
	Green	Anna Hewitt	75	6.7	−2.9
Majority			70
Turnout
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Daneshouse with Stoneyholme

Daneshouse with Stoneyholme ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Saeed Chaudhary*	1,143	54.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Ikram Rafiq	375	18.0	+1.6
	Conservative	Mohammed Saleh	340	16.3	+12.7
	Labour	James Harrison	227	10.9	−65.6
Majority			768
Turnout
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Saeed Chaudhary was elected in 2021 as a Labour councillor.

Gannow

Gannow ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gemma Haigh	590	59.4	+22.6
	Conservative	Rhys Williams	269	27.1	+17.8
	Green	Lewis Bridges	71	7.1	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Kathryn Haworth	47	4.7	N/A
	Independent	Khalil Pascall	17	1.7	N/A
Majority			321
Turnout
	Labour gain from BAPIP		Swing

Gawthorpe

Gawthorpe ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barbara Dole	658	60.8	−4.6
	Conservative	Karen Ingham*	424	39.2	+11.2
Majority			234
Turnout
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Hapton with Park

Hapton with Park ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Hosker*	765	61.1	+6.0
	Labour	Elaine Cotterell	380	30.3	−5.6
	Green	Sarah Hall	108	8.6	−0.4
Majority			385
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Lanehead

Lanehead ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andy Waddington	715	42.4	−8.1
	Independent	Asif Raja*	712	42.2	N/A
	Conservative	Abdul Shahid	261	15.5	−11.3
Majority			3
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Asif Raja was elected in 2021 as a Labour councillor.

Queensgate

Queensgate ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Aurangzeb Ali	1,184	69.2	N/A
	Labour	Keith Till	343	20.0	−48.7
	Conservative	Bailey Webster	184	10.8	−2.2
Majority			841
Turnout
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Rosegrove with Lowerhouse

Rosegrove with Lowerhouse ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ashley Brown	395	37.4	−7.5
	Conservative	Abbey Hartley	286	27.1	+12.5
	Independent	Bea Foster	283	26.8	N/A
	Green	Chris Bridges	91	8.6	+3.4
Majority			109
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Rosehill with Burnley Wood

Rosehill with Burnley Wood ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Horrocks*	467	41.2	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Russell Neal	380	33.5	−3.9
	Conservative	Simon Bonney	195	17.2	+3.8
	Green	Fi Hornby	92	8.1	+2.7
Majority			87
Turnout
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

This seat was gained by Labour in a by-election in November 2022. ^[13]

Trinity

Trinity ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Martyn Hurt*	396	52.0	−12.0
	Labour	Tony Martin	280	36.8	+9.8
	Conservative	Dale Ferrier	85	11.2	+2.2
Majority			116
Turnout
	Green hold		Swing

Whittlefield with Ightenhill

Whittlefield with Ightenhill ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Don Whitaker*	647	46.8	+4.9
	Labour	Liam Walsh	305	22.1	+6.0
	Green	Duncan Reed	244	17.7	−14.0
	Independent	David Roper	139	10.1	N/A
	Independent	Mitchell Cryer	47	3.4	−2.6
Majority			342
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. Ten of the eleven independents prior to the election sat together as the 'Burnley Independent Group', led by Afrasiab Anwar.
2. Sit as part of the Burnley Independent Group, which is not registered as a political party

1. Jacobs, Bill (24 May 2023). "Labour take control of council as a minority administration". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
2. Khan, Shuiab (17 November 2023). "Labour loses control of council as Independents form new coalition". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
3. Khan, Shuiab (17 November 2023). "Burnley councillors who resigned over Gaza form coalition". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
4. Jacobs, Bill (8 May 2024). "Burnley Council's three-way coalition to stay as minority". Lancashire Telegraph . Retrieved 12 June 2024.
5. "Your Councillors by Party". Burnley Borough Council. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
6. "Burnley and Padiham Independent Party". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
7. Jacobs, Bill (18 September 2023). "Double politicians' switch leaves council control on a knife edge". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
8. Ambrose, Tom (5 November 2023). "Burnley council leader quits over Starmer's failure to call for Gaza ceasefire". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
9. "Local Elections Archive Project — Trinity Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
10. Jacobs, Bill (28 February 2024). "Veteran Independent councillor joins borough's Conservative group". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
11. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Burnley Borough Council. 7 April 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
12. Coyle, Simon (2 May 2024). "Burnley local council election 2024 results in full". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
13. "Local Elections Archive Project — Rosehill with Burnley Wood Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2024.