2025 Lancashire County Council election

2025 Lancashire County Council election

←  2021 1 May 2025 2029 →
All 84 seats to Lancashire County Council 43 seats needed for a majority
Leader Phillippa Williamson Matthew Tomlinson N/A Party Conservative Labour Liberal Democrats Last election 48 seats, 43.9% 32 seats, 34.8% 2 seats, 9.1% Current seats 46 27 2   Leader N/A N/A N/A Party Green Independent Reform UK Last election 2 seats, 6.3% 0 seats, 3.4% 0 seats, 0.3% Current seats 2 5 0
Incumbent council control Conservative

The 2025 Lancashire County Council election is due to take place on 1 May 2025 to elect members to Lancashire County Council in Lancashire, England. ^[1] All 84 seats will be elected. This will be on the same day as other local elections.

Background

In the 2021 election, the Conservatives won 48 seats, giving them a majority and control of the council. The Labour Party were the second biggest party with 32 seats, followed by the Liberal Democrats and Greens with 2 seats each. ^[2]

Two by-elections took place between the 2021 and 2025 elections:

  Conservative   Labour   Green

By-elections

Division	Date	Incumbent		Winner		Cause	Ref.
Chorley Rural West	14 September 2023		Keith Iddon		Alan Whittaker	Death	[3] [4]
Burnley Central West	26 October 2023		Andy Fewings		Scott Cunliffe	Resignation	[5] [6]

In June 2022, councillor Mohammed Iqbal of Brierfield & Nelson West was suspended from the Labour Party following comments, which were alleged to be anti-Semitic, where he compared the actions of Israel in the Gaza war to the Nazis in World War II. ^[7] In November 2023, councillors Sobia Malik of Burnley Central East, Usman Arif of Burnley North East and Yousuf Motala of Preston City resigned from the Labour Party in protest of party leader Keir Starmer's decision to not call for a ceasefire in the Gaza war. ^{[8] [9] [10]} In February 2024, councillor Azhar Ali of Nelson East was suspended from the Labour Party following comments where he claimed that Israel had used the October 7 attacks as a pretext to invade the Gaza Strip. ^[11]

In the 2024 general election, the Conservatives lost all but one of their Lancashire seats, retaining only Fylde. The Labour Party won 12 seats (Blackpool North and Fleetwood, Blackpool South, Burnley, Hyndburn, Lancaster and Wyre, Morecambe and Lunesdale, Pendle and Clitheroe, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rossendale and Darwen, South Ribble and West Lancashire), but lost Blackburn to pro-Gaza independent Adnan Hussain. ^{[12] [13]} The Chorley seat was held by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle. ^[14] Overall, of the Lancashire seats, the Labour Party won 12 and the Conservative Party, Speaker and an independent candidate won 1 each. ^[15]

After the general election, a casual vacancy opened in Fleetwood East as councillor Lorraine Beavers was elected as MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, with the council choosing not to hold a by-election and leaving the seat vacant until the May election. ^[16]

Electoral divisions

Boundary revisions by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England meant these elections were fought on new divisions, since 2017. ^{[17] [18]}

Summary of candidates

*This table is under development.

		Burnley	Chorley	Fylde	Hyndburn	Lancaster	Pendle	Preston	Ribble Valley	Rossendale	South Ribble	West Lancashire	Wyre	Total
	Conservative		3*
	Labour		6*
	Liberal Democrats		0*
	Independent		0*
	Green		8
	Reform UK		5*

References

1. "Election timetable in England". Electoral Commission. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
2. "2021 Election Results". Lancashire County Council. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
3. "Tributes paid to Chairman and County Councillor Keith Iddon". Lancashire County Council. 30 June 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
4. "Chorley Rural West by-election – Thursday 14 September 2023". Lancashire County Council. 15 September 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
5. Jacobs, Bill (18 September 2023). "Two Burnley councillors defect to leave town on knife edge". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
6. Longworth, Laura (27 October 2023). "Burnley Green party successfully defends seats on Burnley Borough Council and Lancashire County Council". Burnley Express. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
7. "Labour councillor suspended over alleged anti-Semitic remarks". BBC News. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
8. Khan, Shuiab (4 November 2023). "County councillor Sobia Malik quits Labour Party over Gaza bombings". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
9. Khan, Shuiab (5 November 2023). "Burnley councillors and leader quit Labour Party over Gaza stance". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
10. Faulkner, Paul (20 November 2023). "Long-serving Lancashire councillor for Preston quits Labour over Gaza stance". Blog Preston. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
11. Farnworth, Amy (12 February 2024). "Labour withdraws support for Azhar Ali after Israel claims". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
12. "Labour make huge gains across Lancashire". BBC News. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
13. Sims, Vanessa (5 July 2024). "General Election 2024: Blackburn has a new Independent MP Adnan Hussain after Labour loses by 132 votes". Lancashire Evening Post. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
14. "Chorley results – general election 2024". BBC News. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
15. Calderbank, Matthew (5 July 2024). "General Election 2024 Lancashire: All the results and reaction as Labour wins in landslide". Lancashire Evening Post. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
16. "Notice of Casual Vacancy – Fleetwood East" (PDF). Lancashire County Council. 22 January 2025. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
17. "Lancashire County Council". Local Government Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original on 20 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
18. "The Lancashire (Electoral Changes) Order 2016". legislation.gov.uk. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2025.

See also

• Lancashire County Council elections