Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council elections

The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton shown within England.

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council elections are generally held three years out of every four, with a third of the council being elected each time. Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, generally known as Bolton Council, is the local authority for the metropolitan borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. Since the last boundary changes in 2004, 60 councillors have been elected from 20 wards. ^[1] New ward boundaries are being prepared to take effect from the 2023 election. ^[2]

Political control

From 1889 to 1974 Bolton was a county borough, independent of any county council. ^[3] Under the Local Government Act 1972 it had its territory enlarged and became a metropolitan borough, with Greater Manchester County Council providing county-level services. The first election to the reconstituted borough council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its revised powers on 1 April 1974. Greater Manchester County Council was abolished in 1986 and Bolton became a unitary authority. Political control of the council since 1973 has been held by the following parties: ^{[4] [5]}

Party in control		Years
	Conservative	1973–1980
	Labour	1980–2003
	No overall control	2003–2011
	Labour	2011–2019
	No overall control	2019–present

Leadership

The first leader of the metropolitan borough council, John Hanscomb, had been the last leader of the old county borough council (or corporation) of Bolton. The leaders of the council since 1974 have been: ^[6]

Councillor	Party		From	To
John Hanscomb		Conservative	1974	1980
Bob Howarth [7]		Labour	1980	13 Jun 2004
Barbara Ronson		Liberal Democrats	Jun 2004	May 2006
Cliff Morris [8]		Labour	May 2006	31 Dec 2017
Linda Thomas		Labour	5 Feb 2018	22 May 2019
David Greenhalgh [9]		Conservative	22 May 2019	29 Jul 2021
Martyn Cox		Conservative	25 Aug 2021	16 May 2023
Nick Peel		Labour	16 May 2023	Incumbent

Council elections

Between 1973 and 1980, there were 69 councillors; three seats for each of the 23 wards. Following ward boundary changes for the 1980 election, the number of wards was reduced to 20 and all 60 seats were contested. ^[10] Further boundary changes were made for the 2004 election and again all council seats were contested. ^[1]

• 1973 election
• 1975 election
• 1976 election
• 1978 election
• 1979 election
• 1980 election ^[11]
• 1982 election
• 1983 election
• 1984 election
• 1986 election
• 1987 election
• 1988 election
• 1990 election
• 1991 election
• 1992 election
• 1994 election
• 1995 election
• 1996 election
• 1998 election
• 1999 election
• 2000 election
• 2002 election
• 2003 election
• 2004 election ^[13]
• 2006 election
• 2007 election
• 2008 election
• 2010 election
• 2011 election
• 2012 election
• 2014 election
• 2015 election
• 2016 election
• 2018 election
• 2019 election
• 2021 election
• 2022 election
• 2023 election

By-election results

Daubhill ward by-election 10 April 1997 ^{[14] [15] [16]}
(Triggered by the disqualification of Cllr. Martin Donaghy)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dennis Barlow	1,402	68.8
	Conservative	Jean Walsh	332	16.3
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Rothwell	182	8.9
	Socialist Labour	Doris Kelly	120	5.9
Majority			1,070	52.5
Turnout			2,036	24.0
	Labour hold

Daubhill ward by-election 21 November 2002 ^{[17] [18] [19]}
(Triggered by the death of Cllr. Dennis Barlow)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Fitzpatrick	721	37.3	-18.4
	Liberal Democrats	Linden Greensitt	625	32.3	+15.3
	Conservative	Yakub Jiva	587	30.4	+3.0
Majority			96	5.0
Turnout			1,933	21.4
	Labour hold

Crompton ward by-election 13 July 2006 ^{[20] [21] [22]}
(Triggered by the resignation of Cllr. Iqbal Patel)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hanif Darvesh	1,793	57.4	+33.8
	Conservative	Donald Fairclough	978	31.3	+11.4
	Liberal Democrats	John Cronnelly	224	7.2	-39.8
	Green	Rachel Mann	96	3.1	+3.1
	Socialist Labour	Lynne Lowe	35	1.1	-3.7
Majority			815	26.1
Turnout			3,126	30.7
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats

Daubhill ward by-election 1 October 2009 ^{[23] [24]}
(Triggered by the resignation of Cllr. Emma Scowcroft)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Guy Harkin	1,528	47.4	-2.6
	Conservative	Kath Kavanagh	935	29.0	+1.0
	Independent	Mohmed Alli	377	11.7	+11.7
	Liberal Democrats	Anne Warren	284	8.8	-13.2
	Green	Angela Tibke	99	3.1	+3.1
Majority			593	18.4
Turnout			3,223	31.0
	Labour hold

Harper Green ward by-election 19 December 2013 ^{[25] [26]}
(Triggered by the death of Cllr. Margaret Clare)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Asha Ali Ismail	744	51.9	-15.2
	Conservative	Robert Tyler	325	22.7	+1.1
	UKIP	Peter McGeehan	252	17.6	+17.6
	Green	Kathy Sykes	60	4.2	+4.2
	Liberal Democrats	Wendy Connor	53	3.7	-7.7
Majority			419
Turnout			1,450
	Labour hold

Harper Green ward by-election 16 October 2014 ^{[27] [28]}
(Triggered by the death of Cllr. Asha Ali Ismail)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Susan Haworth	1,176	50.7	-6.3
	UKIP	Jeff Armstrong	777	33.5	+9.3
	Conservative	Robert Tyler	282	12.2	0.0
	Green	James Tomkinson	38	1.6	-2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Rebekah Fairhurst	28	1.2	-1.7
	Independent	Joseph Holt	19	0.8	+0.8
Majority			399
Turnout
	Labour hold

Crompton ward by-election 11 February 2016 ^{[29] [30]}
(Triggered by the death of Cllr. Sufrana Bashir-Ismail)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bilkis Bashir-Ismail	1,961	70.9	+7.9
	UKIP	Paul Eccles	320	11.6	+11.6
	Conservative	Ryan Haslam	302	10.9	-10.8
	Liberal Democrats	Garry Veevers	117	4.2	-6.1
	Green	Laura Diggle	65	2.4	-2.6
Majority			1,641	28.3
Turnout
	Labour hold

Rumworth ward by-election 6 October 2016 ^{[31] [32]}
(Triggered by the death of Cllr. Rosa Kay)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shamim Abdullah	2,152	77.1	+4.9
	UKIP	Jonathan Baxendale	251	9.0	-1.0
	Conservative	Mohammed Waqas	167	6.0	-4.5
	Green	Alan Johnson	126	4.5	-0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Rebecca Forrest	96	3.4	+1.1
Majority			1,901	68.1
Turnout				28.4
	Labour hold

Hulton ward by-election 18 January 2018 ^{[33] [34]}
(Triggered by the death of Cllr. Darren Whitehead)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Toby Hewitt	1,455	49.4	+16.7
	Labour	Rabiya Jiva	1,179	40.1	+3.0
	UKIP	Beverley Fletcher	190	6.5	-18.0
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Gradwell	67	2.3	-0.2
	Green	James Tomkinson	52	1.8	-1.5
Majority			276
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Labour

Farnworth ward by-election 8 March 2018 ^{[35] [36]}
(Triggered by the resignation of Cllr. Asif Ibrahim)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Farnworth and Kearsley First	Paul David Sanders	1,204	47.5	+47.5
	Labour	Rebecca Jane Minors	969	38.2	-10.5
	UKIP	Dave Harvey	169	6.7	-30.0
	Conservative	Matthew Thomas Littler	153	6.0	-2.0
	Liberal Democrats	David Andrew Walsh	23	0.9	-2.2
	Green	David Figgins	18	0.7	+0.7
Majority			235
Turnout				24.32
	Farnworth and Kearsley First gain from Labour

Bromley Cross ward by-election 28 October 2021 ^[37]
(Triggered by the death of Cllr. David Greenhalgh)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Amy Cowen	1,732	70.0	+7.5
	Labour	Emily Mort	409	16.5	+0.5
	Green	Liz Spencer	165	6.7	-0.5
	Bolton for Change	Laura Armstrong	99	4.0	+4.0
	Liberal Democrats	James Haslam	68	2.7	-3.2
Majority			1,323
Turnout			2,473
	Conservative hold

References

1. "The Borough of Bolton (Electoral Changes) Order 2004", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 2004/356, retrieved 30 August 2022
2. "Bolton". Local Government Boundary Commission. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
3. "Bolton Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
4. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
5. "Bolton". BBC News Online . 19 April 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
6. "Council minutes". Bolton Council. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
7. Gee, Chris; George, Thomas (6 April 2021). "Tributes to former MP and council leader who was last surviving 'freeman' of Bolton". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
8. Savage, Ian; Holland, Daniel (8 November 2017). "Bolton Council leader Cliff Morris to step down on December 31 after 11 years in charge". Bolton News. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
9. George, Thomas; Topping, Stephen (29 July 2021). "Bolton Council leader David Greenhalgh dies". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
10. "Report No. 289: Bolton" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission For England. September 1978. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
11. All seats in the 1980 election were contested due to boundary changes.
12. "Bolton council". BBC News Online . Retrieved 16 August 2009.
13. All seats in the 2004 election were contested due to boundary changes. ^[12]
14. "By-election as council bars Donaghy". The Bolton News . 27 February 1997. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
15. "Four fight for Daubhill seat". The Bolton News . 8 April 1997. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
16. "Labour easily holds Daubhill". The Bolton News . 11 April 1997. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
17. "Tories bid for council upset". The Bolton News . 29 October 2002. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
18. "Votes cast in key by-election". The Bolton News . 21 November 2002. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
19. "Labour scramble home". The Bolton News . 22 November 2002. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
20. Tidman, Gareth (14 May 2006). "Uncertainty at town hall as councillor quits". The Bolton News . Retrieved 16 August 2009.
21. "Go-ahead for election". The Bolton News . 27 May 2006. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
22. Youssef, Anna (14 July 2006). "Labour scoop by-election win". The Bolton News . Retrieved 16 August 2009.
23. "Former deputy council leader Guy Harkin to stand in by-election". The Bolton News . 31 August 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
24. Greaves, Andrew (2 October 2009). "VIDEO: Labour secure vital by-election win in Bolton". The Bolton News . Retrieved 3 October 2009.
25. O'Flynn, Elaine (20 December 2013). "UPDATE: Labour storm to victory in Harper Green by-election". The Bolton News . Retrieved 21 December 2013.
26. "Asha scores double first in Labour romp". The Bolton News . 21 December 2013. p. 4.
27. Thorp, Liam (24 September 2014). "Six-way battle for vacant council seat in Harper Green by-election". The Bolton News . Retrieved 18 October 2014.
28. O'Flynn, Elaine (17 October 2014). "UPDATE: Labour win Harper Green by-election". The Bolton News . Retrieved 18 October 2014.
29. Thorp, Liam (21 January 2016). "REVEALED: The 5 candidates looking for your votes in Crompton ward by-election". The Bolton News . Retrieved 7 July 2018.
30. Thorp, Liam (12 February 2016). "Labour storm to victory in Crompton by-election". The Bolton News . Retrieved 7 July 2018.
31. Thorp, Liam (15 September 2016). "Five candidates will contest next month's Bolton Council by-election in Rumworth ward". The Bolton News . Retrieved 20 May 2019.
32. Thorp, Liam (7 October 2016). "Labour storm to victory in Rumworth by-election". The Bolton News . Retrieved 20 May 2019.
33. McIntre, Alex (18 January 2018). "Voters set to decide Hulton ward by-election". The Bolton News . Retrieved 20 May 2019.
34. Naynor, mary (19 January 2018). "Conservatives take Hulton ward seat in narrow by-election win". The Bolton News . Retrieved 20 May 2019.
35. Holland, Daniel (3 February 2018). "By-elections called in Farnworth and Westhoughton". The Bolton News . Retrieved 20 May 2019.
36. Naylor, Mary (9 March 2018). "Farnworth and Kearsley First victory is a 'political earthquake'". The Bolton News . Retrieved 20 May 2019.
37. "Local Elections Archive Project — Bromley Cross Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2022.

External links

• Bolton Council
• Local Authority By-election Results Archived 2010-03-29 at the Wayback Machine