2021 Burnley Borough Council election
The 2021 Burnley Borough Council election took place on 6 May 2021 to elect members of Burnley Borough Council in England.[1] This election was held on the same day as other local elections. As with many other local elections in England, it was postponed from May 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One third of the council was up for election, and each successful candidate will serve a three-year term of office, expiring in 2024. These seats were last contested in 2016.
Following the 2019 election, a coalition executive was formed by all the other parties after Labour lost control of the council.[2] Led by Alan Hosker UKIP had collected all three seats in Hapton with Park ward after 2019. Its three councillors joined the Conservative group in 2020 with Hosker later being elected as group leader.[3] A rupture occurred within the Conservative group later in the year, amidst Hosker's attempts to obtain a position on the executive for himself.[4] This precipitated the collapse of the coalition in September 2020, with Labour's Mark Townsend temporally returning to the role of Council leader in a minority administration, but expected to stand down after the election to become Mayor.[5]
Andrew Newhouse, who won Cliviger with Worsthorne for the Conservatives in 2016, defected to the Burnley and Padiham Independent Party shortly afterward.[5] Bill Brindle, who won Coalclough and Deerplay for the Lib Dems in 2016 but (along with his wife) joined the Labour group in 2018, decided to retire rather than stand again.[5][6] Mark Payne, who won Gannow for the Lib Dems in 2016, was one of the councillors who left the party over its stance on Brexit to form the Burnley and Padiham Independent Party in 2017. David Roper (Whittlefield with Ightenhill) who also left the party at that time but continued as an independent,[7] was another who did not stand for re-election.
After the election the council remained in no overall control, with Labour's Afrasiab Anwar taking over from Mark Townsend as council leader in a coalition with the Lib Dems.[8][9]
State of the Parties
After the election, the composition of the council (compared with May 2019) was:
| Party | Seats | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 18 |  4
| |
| Conservative | 9 |  5
| |
| Liberal Democrat | 8 | 0 | |
| BAPIP | 5 | 0 | |
| Green | 5 | 3
| |
| UKIP | 0 | 3
| |
| Independent | 0 | 1
| |
Election results
Overall election result
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Councillors | Votes | ||||||
| Elected | Of total | Full Council | Of total | |||||
| Labour Party | 5 | 33.3% | 18 / 45 |
7,719 | 34.5% | |||
| Conservative Party | 4 | 26.7% | 9 / 45 |
7,261 | 32.4% | |||
| Green Party | 3 | 20.0% | 5 / 45 |
3,755 | 16.8% | |||
| Liberal Democrats | 2 | 13.3% | 8 / 45 |
2,063 | 9.2% | |||
| Burnley and Padiham Independent Party | 1 | 6.7% | 5 / 45 |
1,529 | 6.8% | |||
| National Front | 0 | 0.0% | 0 / 45 |
45 | 0.2% | |||
| Social Democratic Party | 0 | 0.0% | 0 / 45 |
21 | 0.1% | |||
Ward results
Bank Hall
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Lubna Khan | 956 | 66.9 | −3.3 | |
| Conservative | Maison McGowan-Doe | 314 | 22.0 | +9.9 | |
| Green | Julie Hurt | 158 | 11.1 | −6.6 | |
| Majority | 642 | 44.9 | −7.6 | ||
| Turnout | 1,428 | 34.1 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Briercliffe
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Margaret Lishman | 693 | 49.9 | −12.8 | |
| Conservative | Mike Steel | 404 | 29.1 | +18.6 | |
| Labour | Shelagh Limmer | 217 | 15.6 | +1.3 | |
| Green | Victoria Alker | 76 | 5.5 | −4.8 | |
| Majority | 289 | 20.8 | −27.6 | ||
| Turnout | 1,390 | 32.0 | |||
| Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | ||||
Brunshaw
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Andy Wight | 462 | 38.7 | +20.7 | |
| Conservative | Claire Ingham | 399 | 33.4 | +16.7 | |
| Labour Co-op | Lian Pate | 333 | 27.9 | −21.1 | |
| Majority | 63 | 5.3 | |||
| Turnout | 1,194 | 25.6 | |||
| Green gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
Cliviger and Worsthorne
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Scott Cunliffe | 959 | 47.1 | +34.4 | |
| Conservative | Richard Piers | 757 | 37.2 | −9.1 | |
| Labour | Carol Lukey | 152 | 7.5 | −6.8 | |
| BAPIP | Andrew Newhouse | 71 | 3.5 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Pippa Lishman | 50 | 2.5 | N/A | |
| National Front | Steven Smith | 45 | 2.2 | N/A | |
| Majority | 202 | 9.9 | |||
| Turnout | 2,034 | 47.4 | |||
| Green gain from Conservative | Swing | ||||
Coalclough and Deerplay
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Jacqueline Inckle | 508 | 36.5 | +6.6 | |
| Conservative | Linda Whittaker | 323 | 23.2 | +11.2 | |
| Labour | Bill Horrocks | 322 | 23.1 | −0.2 | |
| BAPIP | Jimmy Anderson | 178 | 12.8 | −14.7 | |
| Green | Arash Sedighi | 60 | 4.3 | −3.0 | |
| Majority | 185 | 13.3 | +10.9 | ||
| Turnout | 1,391 | 35.8 | |||
| Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | ||||
Daneshouse and Stoneyholme
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Saeed Chaudhary | 1,376 | 70.6 | −19.9 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Mohammed Hajji-Nazrul | 461 | 23.6 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Tom Watson | 70 | 3.6 | −0.2 | |
| Green | Janet Hall | 43 | 2.2 | −3.5 | |
| Majority | 915 | 47.0 | −37.7 | ||
| Turnout | 1,950 | — | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Gannow
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAPIP | Mark Payne | 508 | 40.4 | −29.8 | |
| Labour | Fiona Wild | 278 | 22.1 | +6.7 | |
| Conservative | Darren Broughton | 250 | 19.9 | +12.1 | |
| Green | Jai Redman | 152 | 12.1 | +5.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Lesley Sumner | 69 | 5.5 | N/A | |
| Majority | 230 | 18.3 | |||
| Turnout | 1,257 | 29.5 | |||
| BAPIP gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | ||||
Gawthorpe
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Karen Ingham | 776 | 56.0 | +15.7 | |
| Labour | Kate Proctor | 530 | 38.2 | −2.7 | |
| Green | Joseph Davis | 80 | 5.8 | −2.0 | |
| Majority | 246 | 17.8 | |||
| Turnout | 1,386 | 30.7 | |||
| Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
Hapton with Park
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Alan Hosker | 1,256 | 73.8 | +63.1 | |
| Labour | Alun Lewis | 340 | 20.0 | −0.8 | |
| Green | Duncan Reed | 106 | 6.2 | −13.2 | |
| Majority | 916 | 53.8 | |||
| Turnout | 1,702 | 36.8 | |||
| Conservative gain from UKIP | Swing | ||||
Lanehead
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Asif Raja | 863 | 50.1 | −0.1 | |
| Conservative | Jamie McGowan | 667 | 38.7 | +27.8 | |
| Green | Mark Alker | 194 | 11.3 | +0.5 | |
| Majority | 196 | 11.4 | −10.6 | ||
| Turnout | 1,724 | 37.8 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Queensgate
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Arif Khan | 1,105 | 64.5 | −1.2 | |
| Conservative | Alfie White | 444 | 25.9 | +14.1 | |
| Green | Helen Bridges | 163 | 9.5 | −1.2 | |
| Majority | 661 | 38.6 | −15.0 | ||
| Turnout | 1,712 | 41.1 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Rosegrove with Lowerhouse
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour Co-op | Marcus Johnstone | 387 | 30.5 | −0.1 | |
| Conservative | Joanne Broughton | 353 | 27.8 | +17.5 | |
| BAPIP | Dave Alexander | 352 | 27.7 | −20.8 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Michael Taylor | 109 | 8.6 | N/A | |
| Green | Jane Davis | 69 | 5.4 | −5.2 | |
| Majority | 34 | 2.7 | |||
| Turnout | 1,270 | 25.8 | |||
| Labour Co-op hold | Swing | ||||
Rosehill with Burnley Wood
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Phil Chamberlain | 420 | 31.6 | +22.3 | |
| Labour | Margaret Brindle | 411 | 30.9 | +8.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Peter McCann | 379 | 28.5 | −13.1 | |
| Green | Tony Davis | 120 | 9.0 | +2.2 | |
| Majority | 9 | 0.7 | |||
| Turnout | 1,330 | 29.5 | |||
| Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | ||||
Trinity
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Martyn Hurt | 634 | 57.4 | −9.1 | |
| Labour Co-op | Tony Martin | 242 | 21.9 | +3.8 | |
| Conservative | Susan Nutter | 162 | 14.7 | +11.7 | |
| BAPIP | Stephanie Forrest | 67 | 6.1 | −3.1 | |
| Majority | 392 | 35.5 | |||
| Turnout | 1,105 | 26.9 | |||
| Green gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
Whittlefield with Ightenhill
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Don Whitaker | 666 | 36.8 | +14.4 | |
| Green | Emma Simpkin | 479 | 26.5 | −6.5 | |
| BAPIP | Nicola Sedgwick | 353 | 19.5 | −13.6 | |
| Labour | Shaun Sproule | 207 | 11.4 | +3.2 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Kathryn Haworth | 83 | 4.6 | +1.3 | |
| SDP | Mitchell Cryer | 21 | 1.2 | N/A | |
| Majority | 187 | 10.3 | |||
| Turnout | 1,809 | 39.3 | |||
| Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | ||||
References
- ^ "Results 2021". Burnley Borough Council. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ Peter Magill (30 May 2019). "New leader takes charge of rainbow coalition for Burnley Council". Lancashire Telegraph. Newsquest Media Group. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
- ^ Bill Jacobs (1 June 2020). "Burnley: Brexit veteran takes reins at council Tory group". Lancashire Telegraph. Newsquest Media Group. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- ^ Bill Jacobs (4 September 2020). "Burnley Council: suspended Tories back as coalition talks start". Lancashire Telegraph. Newsquest Media Group. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- ^ a b c Collis, Dominic (26 April 2021). "Battle lines drawn in Burnley Council election". Burnley Express. Johnston Press. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- ^ Collis, Dominic (13 June 2018). "Two former Burnley Lib Dems join Labour group". Burnley Express. Johnston Press. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
- ^ Collis, Dominic (14 November 2017). "Council leader calls on Lib Dem quit quartet to resign". Burnley Express. Johnston Press. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ^ Bill Jacobs (12 May 2021). "Burnley Labour group chooses new leader". Lancashire Telegraph. Newsquest Media Group. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- ^ Deehan, John (20 May 2021). "Labour and Lib Dem coalition takes control of Burnley Council". Burnley Express. Johnston Press. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
- ^ "Results 2021". burnley.gov.uk. Burnley Borough Council. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
