The 2024 Burnley Borough Council election was held on Thursday 2 May 2024, alongside the
other local elections in the United Kingdom on the same day. One-third of the 45 members of
Burnley Borough Council in
Lancashire were elected. The
Labour Party managed to regained some of the seats they'd previously held at the
2023 elections before half of the Labour councillors resigned in October 2023. However, they were unable to secure a majority of the seats, leaving Burnley Borough Council in control of a
Liberal Democrat-
Green-
Burnley Independence Group coalition; albeit one that had lost enough seats in the election to make them a minority administration.[1]
Background
Burnley was historically a strong council for
Labour. Labour held a majority on the council from its creation in 1973 until
2000, before winning the council back in
2002.[2] The
BNP became the second largest party on the council in
2003 (winning the popular vote),[3] and Labour lost their majority
the following year. The
Liberal Democrats won their first majority on the council in
2010, but the council fell back into
no overall control in
2011.[2] Labour retook Burnley in
2012,[4] and maintained control until
2019;[5] opposition groups formed a coalition, but Labour formed a minority administration after its collapse.[6]
In the
2023 election, Labour won 8 seats (up 2) with 42.2% of the vote, the
Conservatives won 2 (up 1) with 22.5%, the
Green Party won 2 (up 1) with 16.7%, the Liberal Democrats won 2 (down 1) with 13.5%, the
Burnley and Padiham Independent Party won 1 (down 2) with 4.3%, and
UKIP did not defend their seat up for election. Following the election, Labour formed a minority administration.[7] However, in October 2023 11 councillors left the Labour Party over the party's stance on the
Israel–Hamas war. These 11 independents joined with the Green Party and Liberal Democrats to form a majority coalition.[8]
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 5 seats with 34.5% of the vote, the Conservatives won 4 with 32.4%, the Green Party won 3 with 16.8%, the Liberal Democrats won 2 with 9.2%, and the Burnley and Padiham Independent Party won 1 with 6.8%.
August 2023: BAPIP dissolved - Charlie Briggs, Neil Mottershead and Mark Payne sit as independents[10]
September 2023: Charlie Briggs (independent) joins Labour;[11] Andy Fewings (Green) resigns - by-election held October 2023
October 2023: Afrasiab Anwar, Saeed Chaudhary, Shah Hussain, Mohammed Ishtiaq, Nussrat Kazmi, Syeda Kazmi, Arif Khan, Lubna Khan, Sehrish Lone, Asif Raja, and Christine Sollis leave Labour to sit as independents;[a][12] Alexander Hall (Green) wins by-election[13]
February 2024: Neil Mottershead (independent) joins Conservatives[14]
Results
Borough of Burnley Council's composition after the 2024 local elections
The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Burnley Borough Council following the close of nominations.[15] An asterisk denotes an incumbent councillor seeking re-election.