Wikipedia

2023 Hyndburn Borough Council election

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.

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 party Second party
  Blank Blank
Leader Marlene Haworth Munsif Dad
Party Conservative Labour
Seats before 15 13
Seats after 16 16
Seat change Increase1 Increase3
  Third party Fourth party
  Blank Blank
Leader Miles Parkinson Paddy Short
Party Independent Green
Seats before 5 2
Seats after 1 2
Seat change Decrease4 Steady
2023 local election results in Hyndburn
  Labour
  Conservative
  Not contested
Leader before election

Miles Parkinson
Independent
No overall control

Leader after election

Marlene Haworth
Conservative
No overall control

Background

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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

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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

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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

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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
Party This election Full council This election
Seats Net Seats % Other Total Total % Votes Votes % +/−
  Labour 7  3 58.3 9 16 45.7 8,058 51.9 +6.0
  Conservative 5  1 41.7 11 16 45.7 5,496 35.4 -7.4
  Independent 0  4 0.0 1 1 2.9 1,331 8.6 +1.9
  Green 0   0.0 2 2 5.7 359 2.3 n/a
  Liberal Democrats 0   0.0 0 0 0.0 93 0.6 n/a
  Reform UK 0   0.0 0 0 0.0 88 0.6 -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

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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

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Altham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Stephen Button 638 51.53 −7.32
Independent Miles Parkinson* 514 41.52 N/A
Independent Wayne Fitzharris 76 6.14 N/A
Majority 124 10.01 N/A
Rejected ballots 7 0.57
Turnout 1,238 31.88 3.41
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

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Barnfield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Michael David Booth 414 41.23 −19.76
Independent June Lillian Mary Harrison* 390 38.84 N/A
Conservative Shahed Mahmood 196 19.52 −15.14
Majority 24 2.39 N/A
Rejected ballots 4 0.40
Turnout 1,004 30.66 0.42
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

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Baxenden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Kathleen Iris Pratt*
(Kath Pratt) 		549 47.95 −6.68
Labour Zoe Clare Emmett 520 45.41 2.73
Green Louise Clare Preston 69 6.03 N/A
Majority 29 2.54 N/A
Rejected ballots 7 0.61
Turnout 1,145 36.65 −0.83
Registered electors 3,124
Conservative hold Swing -4.71

Central

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Central
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Mohammed Younis 1,043 51.61 11.44
Labour Mohammad Ayub* 959 47.45 −11.37
Majority 84 4.16 N/A
Rejected ballots 17 0.84
Turnout 2,021 52.41 3.17
Registered electors 3,856
Conservative gain from Labour Swing 11.41

Church

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Church
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Loraine Cox* 581 51.14 17.18
Labour Jemshad Ahmed 547 48.15 −14.21
Majority 34 2.99 N/A
Rejected ballots 7 0.62
Turnout 1,136 32.27 2.75
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

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Clayton-le-Moors
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Melissa Margaret Fisher* 590 53.44 2.17
Conservative Bernadette Parkinson 380 34.42 −8.37
Reform UK Richard John Oakley 88 7.97 N/A
Green Alia Qadar Blacow 47 4.26 N/A
Majority 210 19.02 N/A
Rejected ballots 4 0.36
Turnout 1,104 32.25 4.02
Registered electors 3,423
Labour hold Swing 5.27

Huncoat

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Huncoat
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Parkins 915 79.15 17.63
Conservative Jordan Fox 173 14.96 −15.06
Independent David James Navin 58 5.02 N/A
Majority 742 64.19 N/A
Rejected ballots 10 0.87
Turnout 1,156 32.72 5.07
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

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Immanuel
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Judith Helen Addison* 572 54.11 −11.88
Labour Andrew Peter Gilbert 467 44.18 14.44
Majority 105 9.93 N/A
Rejected ballots 18 1.70
Turnout 1,057 31.07 4.64
Registered electors 3,402
Conservative hold Swing -13.16

Milnshaw

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Milnshaw
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Ian Cox* 605 58.34 −4.35
Independent Malcolm Eric Pritchard 207 19.96 N/A
Conservative Andrew Philip Lund 195 18.80 2.58
Independent Navid Mohammed Afzal 24 2.31 N/A
Majority 398 38.38 N/A
Rejected ballots 6 0.57
Turnout 1,037 29.18 −1.33
Registered electors 3,554
Labour hold

Overton

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Overton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Heather Margaret Anderson 920 62.54 17.73
Conservative Ken James Moss 405 27.53 −23.36
Green Julie Carole Stubbins 80 5.44 N/A
Independent Paul Graeme Knighton 62 4.21 N/A
Majority 515 35.01 N/A
Rejected ballots 4 0.27
Turnout 1,471 31.51 0.38
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

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Rishton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Katie-Louise Walsh*
(Kate Walsh) 		880 55.66 5.84
Conservative David Heap 595 37.63 −7.67
Green Alexis Lee Kristan
(Lex Kristan) 		63 3.98 N/A
Liberal Democrats Adam John Thomas Waller-Slack 35 2.21 N/A
Majority 285 17.93 N/A
Rejected ballots 7 0.44
Turnout 1,581 32.23 5.56
Registered electors 4,906
Labour hold Swing 6.76

St Oswald's

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St Oswald's
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Zak Khan* 807 51.33 19.07
Labour Stewart Thurston Eaves 603 38.36 −1.34
Green Michael David Miller 100 6.36 N/A
Liberal Democrats Beth Waller-Slack 58 3.69 N/A
Majority 204 12.97 N/A
Rejected ballots 3 0.19
Turnout 1,572 32.68 −0.48
Registered electors 4,811
Conservative hold Swing 10.21

References

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  1. ^ a b Kemp, Ellie (5 May 2023). "Election results from Hyndburn local council election 2023 count in full". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "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.
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