2024 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council election

2024 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council election
17 out of 51 seats to Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council; 26 seats needed for a majority
	Winner of each seat at the 2024 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council election
Leader before election; Phil Riley; Labour	Leader after election ; Phil Riley; Labour

The 2024 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council election took place on Thursday 2 May 2024, alongside the other local elections in the United Kingdom being held on the same day, to elect one-third of the 51 members of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council in Lancashire.

Labour retained control of the council.^[1] Both Labour and the Conservatives lost seats to independent candidates, many of whom were allied to the '4 BwD' group of independents which had formed on the council in autumn 2023. After the election there were 12 councillors in the 4BwD group, overtaking the Conservatives who were left with 9 seats. The 4 BwD group therefore became the council's official opposition.^[2]

Background

The Labour Party have governed Blackburn with Darwen for most of its history. They controlled the council from its creation in 1997 as a unitary authority to 2007, and again from 2011 to the present, with a period of no overall control between.^[3] In the previous election, Labour won 14 seats (up 2) with 63.0% of the vote, the Conservatives won 3 (down 1) with 30.3%, and the Liberal Democrats lost the seat they were defending with 5.1%.

The seats up for election in 2024 were last contested in 2021; because of the delay of all local elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the seats are up for election after 3 years rather than the usual 4. In that election, Labour won 11 seats with 55.4%, the Conservatives won 6 with 38.8%, and the Liberal Democrats won 0 with 5.0%.

Previous council composition

After 2023 election			Before 2024 election^[4]			After 2024 election^[5]
Party		Seats	Party		Seats	Party		Seats
	Labour	39		Labour	31		Labour	29
	Conservative	12		Conservative	11		Conservative	9
	Independent	0		Independent	9		Independent	13

Changes:

October 2023: Saj Ali, Mustafa Desai, Samim Desai, Suleman Khonat, Adbul Patel, Salma Patel, and Salim Sidat leave Labour to sit as independents;^[a]^[6] Mohammed Irfan suspended from Labour;^[7] Altaf "Tiger" Patel leaves Conservatives to sit as an independent^[8]

Results

2024 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
Party		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	7	2	41.2	22	29	56.9	12749	40.4	-22.6
	Independent	8	4	47.1	5	13	25.5	10964	34.7	+34.2
	Conservative	2	2	11.8	7	9	17.6	7094	22.5	-7.8
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0	762	2.4	+1.5

Ward Results

Audley & Queen's Park

Audley & Queen's Park
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Amin Kapadia	1,068	49.2	*N/A*
	Labour	Faryad Hussain	664	30.6	–36.5
	Green	Aadil Chopdat	311	14.3	N/A
	Conservative	Lyall Ainscow	129	5.9	−12.5
Turnout			2,172	34.2	+5.8
	Independent hold

Bastwell & Daisyfield

Bastwell & Daisyfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Rana Khan	1,273	52.6	*N/A*
	Labour	Iftakhar Hussain*	936	38.7	–41.7
	Conservative	Ella Hardman	139	5.7	−13.9
	Independent	Khurram Shahzad	71	2.9	N/A
Turnout			2,419	41.3	+6.1
	Independent gain from Labour

Billinge & Beardwood

Billinge & Beardwood
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Waqar Hussain	1,512	62.7	*N/A*
	Labour	Aadil Patel	509	21.1	–40.9
	Conservative	Reece Macaulay	389	16.1	−16.6
Turnout			2,410	38.3	+4.1
	Independent hold

Blackburn Central

Blackburn Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Tahir Mahmood	799	51.2	*N/A*
	Labour	Liyakatali Patel	596	38.2	–38.2
	Conservative	Keith Murray	166	10.6	−5.5
Turnout			1,561	25.0
	Independent hold

Blackburn South & Lower Darwen

Blackburn South & Lower Darwen
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Liz Johnson	809	53.8	+9.8
	Conservative	Denise Gee*	696	46.2	−9.8
Turnout			1,505	26.7	+0.4
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	9.8

Blackburn South East

Blackburn South East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Humphrys*	628	58.3	−15.1
	Independent	Riff Haworth	259	24.0	N/A
	Conservative	Henry Arnold	191	17.7	−8.9
Turnout			1,078	17.8	+1.1
	Labour hold

Darwen East

Darwen East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Katrina Fielding*	773	58.6	−0.5
	Independent	Paul Browne	331	25.1	N/A
	Conservative	Ryan Slater	214	16.2	+0.4
Turnout			1,318	20.7	–1.2
	Labour hold

Darwen South

Darwen South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Matt Jackson*	903	49.0	+3.7
	Conservative	Steve Duncan	734	39.8	−1.0
	Green	Denise Morgan	206	11.2	N/A
Turnout			1,843	28.5	–0.3
	Labour hold		Swing	2.4

Darwen West

Darwen West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Brian Taylor*	1,293	73.7	+10.9
	Conservative	Lilian Salton	460	26.2	−5.1
Turnout			1,753	28.7	–2.1
	Labour hold		Swing	8.0

Ewood

Ewood
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ashley Whalley	657	52.8	−5.4
	Conservative	Rick Moore	397	31.9	−9.9
	Green	John Milburn	128	10.3	N/A
	Independent	Saraj Mohammed	63	5.1	N/A
Turnout			1,245	20.3	–0.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	2.3

Little Harwood & Whitebirk

Little Harwood & Whitebirk
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Tiger Patel*	809	36.5	*N/A*
	Independent	Ismail Esat	755	34.1	N/A
	Labour	Naushad Surve	480	21.7	–58.6
	Conservative	Les Cade	170	7.7	−5.6
Turnout			2,214	36.7	+11.4
	Independent hold

Livesey with Pleasington

Livesey with Pleasington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Russell*	1,441	74.7	+7.2
	Labour	Isma Sajid	487	25.3	−7.2
Turnout			1,928	29.6	–1.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	7.2

Mill Hill & Moorgate

Mill Hill & Moorgate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julie Gunn*	697	64.0	−4.1
	Conservative	John Murphy	272	25.0	+2.0
	Independent	Natasha Shah	120	11.0	N/A
Turnout			1,089	19.8	–0.4
	Labour hold		Swing	3.1

Roe Lee

Roe Lee
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Imran Ahmed	999	46.9	*N/A*
	Labour	Sylvia Liddle*	723	34.0	–33.4
	Conservative	Helen Voegt	406	19.1	−4.7
Turnout			2,128	33.1	+5.3
	Independent gain from Labour

Shear Brow & Corporation Park

Shear Brow & Corporation Park
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Muntazir Patel	1,957	70.9	*N/A*
	Labour	Hussain Akhtar*	740	26.8	–63.7
	Conservative	Judith Pearson	65	2.4	−7.1
Turnout			2,762	45.0	+17.1
	Independent gain from Labour

Wensley Fold

Wensley Fold
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Iqbal Masters	948	46.7	*N/A*
	Labour	Dave Harling*	881	43.4	−46.7
	Green	Robin Field	117	5.8	N/A
	Conservative	Mags Marrow	86	4.2	−5.7
Turnout			2,032	33.8	+3.6
	Independent gain from Labour

West Pennine

West Pennine
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Slater	1,139	53.9	+2.0
	Labour	Simon Charlesworth	973	46.1	+13.4
Turnout			2,112	35.1	–2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	5.7

References

^ Sit as part of the 4 BwD group on the council, which is not registered as a political party.

^ "Blackburn with Darwen election result".
^ Jacobs, Bill (3 May 2024). "Blackburn with Darwen: Gaza Independents surge rocks Labour". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
^ "Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council Election Results 1997-2012" (PDF). Elections Centre. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
^ "Your Councillors". Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
^ Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council (3 May 2024). "Borough election results Thursday 2 May". Retrieved 3 May 2024.
^ Khan, Shuiab (30 October 2023). "Salim Sidat and ex-Mayor latest to resign over Gaza". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
^ Khan, Shuiab (14 October 2023). "Labour councillor suspended over anti-Israel social media post". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
^ Khan, Shuiab (15 October 2023). "Blackburn's Boris Johnson resigns from Tory party at pro-Palestine rally". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 2 April 2024.

[6] Sit as part of the 4 BwD group on the council, which is not registered as a political party.

[1] "Blackburn with Darwen election result".

[2] Jacobs, Bill (3 May 2024). "Blackburn with Darwen: Gaza Independents surge rocks Labour". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 23 June 2024.

[3] "Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council Election Results 1997-2012" (PDF). Elections Centre. Retrieved 2 April 2024.

[4] "Your Councillors". Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. Retrieved 2 April 2024.

[5] Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council (3 May 2024). "Borough election results Thursday 2 May". Retrieved 3 May 2024.

[7] Khan, Shuiab (30 October 2023). "Salim Sidat and ex-Mayor latest to resign over Gaza". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 2 April 2024.

[8] Khan, Shuiab (14 October 2023). "Labour councillor suspended over anti-Israel social media post". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 2 April 2024.

[9] Khan, Shuiab (15 October 2023). "Blackburn's Boris Johnson resigns from Tory party at pro-Palestine rally". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 2 April 2024.

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