2024 Hyndburn Borough Council election

The 2024 Hyndburn Borough Council election was held on 2 May 2024, to elect 12 of the 35 members of Hyndburn Borough Council in Lancashire, England, being the usual approximate third of the council. This was on the same day as other local elections across the country, including for the Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner.[1][2]

2024 Hyndburn Borough Council election
← 2023 2 May 2024 2026 →

12 of 35 seats to Hyndburn Borough Council
18 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
  Blank Blank
Leader Munsif Dad Marlene Howarth
Party Labour Conservative
Leader's seat Spring Hill St Oswald's
Seats before 16 16
Seats won 10 1
Seats after 22 11
Seat change Increase6 Decrease5

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Mohammed Fazal
Party Green Independent
Leader's seat Central
Seats before 2 1
Seats won 1 0
Seats after 1 1
Seat change Decrease1 Steady

2024 local election results in Hyndburn
  Labour
  Green
  Not contested

Leader before election

Marlene Haworth
Conservative
No overall control

Leader after election

Munsif Dad
Labour

Prior to the election, the council was under no overall control, being led by a minority Conservative administration. The election saw Labour gain a majority of the seats on the council.

Background

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Before the election the Conservatives had 16 councillors, with 1 independent councillor and 2 Green councillors (the latter three all having previously been elected for Labour), and Labour had 16 councillors. Eighteen or more seats are needed for overall control of the council. The Conservatives were running the council as a minority administration with informal support from the independent and Green councillors.[3][4]

The seats up for election in 2024 had last been contested in 2021. That election had originally been due in 2020 but had been delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing the subsequent term of office from four years to three. In 2021, the Conservatives and Labour had won six seats each. Two of the six Labour councillors elected in 2021 (Caroline Montague of Barnfield ward and Paddy Short of Peel ward) had left the party in May 2022.[5] They both subsequently joined the Green Party.[6]

As a result of the Elections Act 2022 electors were required to present photographic identification to polling staff in order to cast their vote. Postal voters were not affected.[7]

Council composition

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Prior to the election the composition of the council was:

The Conservatives were defending six seats, Labour were defending four seats, and two were held by Greens (formerly Labour). Neither of those Green councillors stood for re-election in 2024. In addition to candidates from these parties, there were one Reform UK, one Workers Party of Britain candidate and two independent candidates standing. There were also an additional four new Green Party candidates, standing in the Central, Church, Overton & Spring-Hill wards, alongside replacements for the two previous Green councillors for Barnfield and Peel (who both stood down), making six new Green candidates in total. The local Labour and Conservative parties both ran candidates in each of the 12 wards.[8][9]

At the election, the Conservatives lost four seats to Labour, including their former leader, Peter Britcliffe. Labour regained both of the seats where its previous councillors had defected to the Greens, but lost one other existing Labour seat to a Green candidate.[10]

Local Election result

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After the election, the composition of the council's 35 seats was:[11]

The Labour group leader, Munsif Dad, was formally appointed as leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 23 May 2024. The previous Conservative leader, Marlene Howarth, stood down as her party's group leader after the election, being replaced by Zak Khan.[12]

Hyndburn Local Election Result 2024 - electorate TBC (over just 12 wards) - with TBC% turnout
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 10 7 1 +6 47.7 6,950
  Conservative 1 0 5 -5 35.2 5,125
  Green 1 1 2 -1 13.9 2,020
  Reform UK 0 0 0 0 1.7 244
  Workers Party GB 0 0 0 0 1.0 146
  Independent 0 0 0 0 0.6 90
  Spoilt Ballots ... ... ... ... 0.0 232

The results for when this set of seats were last contested are at 2021 Hyndburn Borough Council election.

NB: Four (of 16) council wards were not up for re-election in 2024, being Clayton Le Moors, Huncoat, Immanuel in Oswaldtwistle and Milnshaw in Accrington. However, as the election for Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner took place on the same day, all polling stations were open, across every ward in the borough.

Previous councillors who did not stand for re-election in May 2024 include – Dominik Allen (Conservative - Altham), Caroline Montague (Green - Barnfield), Abdul Khan (Labour - Central), Colin McKenzie (Labour - Overton), Paddy Short (Green - Peel) and Susan Hayes[13] (Conservative - St. Oswalds). Former Conservative councillor Michael Miller stood for the Green party in Peel ward.

Ward results

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The results for each ward were as follows, with an asterisk(*) indicating a sitting councillor standing for re-election.[14][15]

Altham

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Altham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Vanessa Alexander 687 64.8 +20.5
Conservative David Heap 374 35.2 −20.5
Majority 313 29.6 N/A
Rejected ballots 33 3.0
Turnout 1,094 28.3 −1.5
Registered electors 3,866
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +20.5

Barnfield

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Barnfield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Clare McKenna 546 58.1 +5.9
Conservative Foyzun Nur 249 26.5 −21.3
Green Joan West 145 15.4 N/A
Majority 297 31.6 +27.3
Rejected ballots 14 1.5
Turnout 954 28.8 −6.5
Registered electors 3,318
Labour gain from Green Swing +13.6

Baxenden

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Baxenden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Edward Blake 553 51.1 +10.5
Conservative Terence Hurn* 529 48.9 −10.5
Majority 24 2.2 N/A
Rejected ballots 14 1.3
Turnout 1,096 35.7 −5.1
Registered electors 3,070
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +10.5

Central

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Central
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Green Shabir Fazal 818 41.9 N/A
Conservative Allah Dad 516 26.4 −23.0
Labour Ijaz Ahmed 471 24.1 −26.5
Workers Party Mohammed Irfan 146 7.5 N/A
Majority 302 15.5 N/A
Rejected ballots 22 1.1
Turnout 1,973 49.9 −2.5
Registered electors 3,953
Green gain from Labour Swing N/A

Church

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Church
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Stewart Eaves 441 37.7 −10.1
Green Sohail Asghar 366 31.3 N/A
Conservative Sajid Mahmood* 363 31.0 −21.2
Majority 75 6.4 N/A
Rejected ballots 23 1.9
Turnout 1,193 33.3 −0.2
Registered electors 3,578
Labour gain from Conservative Swing N/A

Netherton

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Netherton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Noordad Aziz* 774 67.4 +6.9
Conservative Mohammed Riaz 374 32.6 −1.2
Majority 400 34.8 +8.2
Rejected ballots 24 2.0
Turnout 1,173 33.5 −3.3
Registered electors 3,504
Labour hold Swing +4.1

Overton

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Overton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Clare Yates 798 58.4 +12.1
Conservative Judith McKelvey 425 31.3 −9.8
Green Julie Stubbins 91 6.7 N/A
No Description Paul Knighton 52 3.8 N/A
Majority 373 27.1 +21.9
Rejected ballots 10 0.7
Turnout 1,376 29.4 −6.5
Registered electors 4,681
Labour hold Swing +10.9

Peel

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Peel
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Clare Pritchard 359 51.7 −15.5
Green Michael Miller 159 22.9 N/A
Conservative Jean Hurn 139 20.0 −12.8
Independent Navid Afzal 38 5.5 N/A
Majority 200 28.8 −5.7
Rejected ballots 11 1.6
Turnout 700 22.9 −3.0
Registered electors 3,053
Labour gain from Green Swing N/A

Rishton

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Rishton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ethan Rawcliffe 832 59.9 +24.4
Conservative Carole Haythornthwaite* 556 40.1 +2.4
Majority 276 19.7 N/A
Rejected ballots 32 2.2
Turnout 1,430 29.0 −6.2
Registered electors 4,931
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +11.0

Spring Hill

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Spring Hill
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Munsif Dad* 532 41.1 −18.8
Green Wayne Fitzharris 441 34.1 N/A
Conservative Saeed Ullah 322 24.9 −14.5
Majority 91 7.0 −13.5
Rejected ballots 18 1.4
Turnout 1,314 35.0 −2.3
Registered electors 3,758
Labour hold Swing N/A

St. Andrew's

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St. Andrew's
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Andrew Gilbert 492 51.4 +14.7
Conservative Peter Britcliffe* 466 48.6 −6.7
Majority 26 2.7 N/A
Rejected ballots 14 1.4
Turnout 972 29.4 −2.5
Registered electors 3,309
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +10.7

St. Oswald's

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St. Oswald's
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tina Walker 812 53.4 +2.6
Labour Andrew Tatchell 465 30.6 −15.7
Reform UK Richard Oakley 244 16.0 N/A
Majority 347 22.7 +18.2
Rejected ballots 17 1.1
Turnout 1,542 32.2 −6.4
Registered electors 4,786
Conservative hold Swing +9.1

References

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  1. ^ "Elections in your area". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Elections & Referendums – what we do". Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner Election Information. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  3. ^ Jacobs, Bill (19 May 2023). "Hyndburn Tories take control of divided council by two votes". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  4. ^ Jacobs, Bill (26 April 2024). "Hyndburn's spicy election sees Tories and Labour neck and neck". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  5. ^ Jacobs, Bill (18 May 2022). "Hynburn Labour group gets new leader as two more councillors quit". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  6. ^ Jacobs, Bill (27 September 2022). "Hyndburn Labour councillors join Green party - after quitting to become Independents". Lancs Live. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Voting and elections". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Hyndburn Borough Council. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  9. ^ Hughes, Ian (23 April 2024). "All the Hyndburn local election candidates 2024 as voters prepare to head to polls". Lancs Live. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  10. ^ Macpherson, Jon (3 May 2024). "Lancashire local elections 2024". Lancs Live. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Hyndburn election result". BBC News. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  12. ^ Jacobs, Bill (24 May 2024). "Hyndburn Council's new Labour leader promises fresh start". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Labour call for Tory councillor who has moved to other side of county to quit". Lancashire Telegraph. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  14. ^ "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Hyndburn Borough Council. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  15. ^ "Hyndburn local election". Democracy Club. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
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