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]
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 |
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 |
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]
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |