2019 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 2019 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2019 to elect members of Bolton Council in Greater Manchester, England.^[1][2][3] This was on the same day as other local elections. The Labour Party, which had run the council since 2006 and had maintained a majority since 2011, lost overall control of the Council.

Bolton Metropolitan Council Election 2019

← 2018 2 May 2019 2021 →
20 Seats up for Election
First party Second party Third party   Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats Seats before 30 19 3 Seats after 24 20 6 Seat change 7 1 3 Popular vote 22,927 20,862 9,283 Percentage 32.8% 29.8% 13.3%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Farnworth and Kearsley First UKIP Horwich and Blackrod First Seats before 3 3 1 Seats after 5 3 2 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 5,162 7,809 3,059 Percentage 7.4% 11.2% 4.4%   Seventh party   Party Independent Politician Seats before 1 Seats after 1 Seat change Popular vote 881 Percentage 1.3%
Leader of the Council before election Labour Leader of the Council Conservative

The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton shown within England.

20 seats were contested and the Labour Party won 6 seats, the Conservative Party won 6 seats, the Liberal Democrats won 3 seats, Farnworth and Kearsley First won 2 seats, Horwich and Blackrod First won 2 seats, and UKIP won 1 seat.

After the election, the total composition of the council was as follows:

• Labour 24
• Conservative 20
• Liberal Democrats 6
• Farnworth and Kearsley First 5
• UK Independence Party 3
• Horwich and Blackrod First 2

The Conservatives formed an agreement with all the other opposition parties, the Liberal Democrats, Farnworth and Kearsley First, UKIP and Horwich and Blackrod First in order to form a minority administration.^[4][5] For the first time since the period between 2004 and 2006, the Labour Party went into opposition. This was also the first time in history at Bolton Council that the party with the largest number of seats was not in charge of running the council.

Election results

2019 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	6	7	35.0	18	24	40.0	22,920	31.4	–6.6
	Conservative	6	1	35.0	14	20	33.3	20,862	28.6	–5.4
	Liberal Democrats	3	2	15.0	3	6	10.0	9,283	12.7	–1.1
	Farnworth and Kearsley First	2	2	10.0	3	5	8.3	5,162	7.1	+1.3
	UKIP	1		5.0	2	3	5.0	7,809	10.7	+7.8
	Horwich and Blackrod First	2	2	10.0	0	2	3.3	3,059	4.2	New
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	2,237	3.1	+0.4
	Independent	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	1,607	2.1	+0.1

Council composition

Prior to the election the composition of the council was:

↓

31	19	4	3	3
Labour	Conservative	LD	U	IND

After the election the composition of the council was:

↓

24	20	6	3	7
Labour	Conservative	LD	U	IND

LD - Liberal Democrats
U - UKIP
IND - Independent (politician

Ward results

Winning candidates are highlighted in bold.

Astley Bridge ward

Astley Bridge ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Wild	1,732	39.4	−3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Warren Fox	1,417	32.2	−3.9
	Labour	Steve Sutton	597	13.6	−7.8
	Independent	Mohammed Tanveer Akhtar	369	8.4	+8.4
	UKIP	Paul Gannon	283	6.4	+6.4
Majority			315	7.2	+0.8
Turnout			4,398	43.0	+1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Labour to Independent 8.1

Bradshaw ward

Bradshaw ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stuart Haslam	1,888	55.6	−1.5
	Labour	Kirith Ahluwalia	464	13.7	−12.1
	Independent	Eric Hyland	333	9.8	+1.7
	UKIP	Chris Marcroft	329	9.7	+9.7
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Howarth	200	5.9	+0.8
	Green	Laura Diggle	179	5.3	+1.4
Majority			1,424	42.0	+10.7
Turnout			3,393	38.1	+0.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Labour to UKIP 10.9

Breightmet ward

Breightmet ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Beverley Fletcher	1,344	41.2	−6.2
	Labour	John Byrne	1,060	32.5	−6.6
	UKIP	Ryan Wood	627	19.2	+11.8
	Green	Trish Bolton	138	4.2	+0.0
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Turner	95	2.9	+1.0
Majority			284	8.7	+0.4
Turnout			3,264	35.1	+0.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	Labour to UKIP 9.2

Bromley Cross ward

Bromley Cross ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Samantha Conner	2,566	62.5	−10.8
	Labour	James Entwistle-Wilkinson	658	16.0	−9.6
	UKIP	William Roger Townshend	342	8.3	+8.3
	Green	Liz Spencer	296	7.2	−2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Allen	241	5.9	−1.7
Majority			1,905	46.4
Turnout			4,103	39.9
	Conservative hold

Crompton ward

Crompton ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin McMulkin	2,078	50.5	−6.6
	Conservative	Siraj Patel	1,243	30.2	+11.6
	UKIP	Jeff Armstrong	470	11.4	+11.4
	Green	Dan Bolton	164	4.0	+4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Langdon	158	3.8	−2.6
Majority			835	20.3	−18.2
Turnout			4,113	38.1	+1.3
	Labour hold		Swing	Labour to Conservative 9.3

Farnworth ward

Farnworth ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Farnworth and Kearsley First	Lisa Weatherby	1,864	52.9	−1.0
	Labour	Jean Gillies	1,270	36.0	−1.3
	UKIP	John Cotter	176	2.9	−2.1
	Conservative	Jennifer Kirk	124	4.5	−1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Christine McPherson	51	1.4	+0.0
	For Britain	Simon Collins	38	1.1	+1.1
Majority			594	16.7	+0.2
Turnout			3,522	33.7	+3.7
	Farnworth and Kearsley First gain from Labour		Swing

Great Lever ward

Great Lever ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Madeline Murray	1,928	51.2	−24.8
	Conservative	Arfan Khan	1,254	33.6	+21.4
	UKIP	Derek R Wunderley	272	7.3	+7.3
	Green	David Figgins	169	4.5	−2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Duncan McPherson	105	2.8	−1.7
Majority			674	18.1	−45.7
Turnout			3,728	38.5	+5.6
	Labour hold		Swing	Labour to Conservative 23.1

Halliwell ward

Halliwell ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Linda Thomas	1,770	63.6	−6.6
	Conservative	Yasir Waseem Faisal	370	13.3	−0.3
	UKIP	Sandra Harvey	295	10.6	+10.6
	Green	Pamela Spurling	140	5.0	+1.2
	Liberal Democrats	John Falch	118	4.2	+0.4
	Independent	Anthony Massey	89	3.2	+0.9
Majority			1,400	50.3	−6.5
Turnout			2,782	32.0	−3.2
	Labour hold		Swing	Labour to UKIP 8.6

Harper Green ward

Harper Green ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Susan Haworth	1,484	46.5	−6.8
	Farnworth and Kearsley First	Peter Flitcroft	923	28.9	+3.8
	Conservative	Robert Tyler	285	8.9	−4.5
	UKIP	David Harvey	266	8.3	+3.9
	Green	Matthew Barnes	92	2.9	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Walsh	52	1.6	−0.1
	Independent	Harun Abdullahi Mohamed	90	2.8	+2.8
Majority			561	17.6	−10.8
Turnout			3,192	32.5	−3.6
	Labour hold		Swing	Labour to UKIP 5.3

Heaton and Lostock ward

Heaton and Lostock ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Allen	2,324	54.2	−12.2
	Labour	John Gillatt	1,026	23.9	−3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Priest	437	10.2	+4.3
	UKIP	Daniel Wheatley	276	6.4	+6.4
	Green	Heather Rylance	227	5.3	+5.3
Majority			1,298	30.2	−8.6
Turnout			4,290	40.5	−1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Horwich and Blackrod ward

Horwich and Blackrod ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Horwich and Blackrod First	Peter Wright	1,482	37.4	+37.4
	Labour	Stephen Pickup	1,041	26.3	−14.7
	Conservative	Michael Baines	978	24.7	−22.9
	UKIP	Samantha Jane Chadwick	199	5.0	+5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Rebecca Forrest	133	3.3	−3.3
	Green	Keith Cocker	130	3.3	−1.5
Majority			441	11.1
Turnout			3,963	38.2	+4.5
	Horwich and Blackrod First gain from Labour		Swing	Conservative to HBFI 30.0

Horwich North East ward

Horwich North East ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Horwich and Blackrod First	Marie Brady	1,577	37.5	+37.5
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon Stone	984	23.4	−11.1
	Labour	Joyce Kellett	926	22.0	−14.0
	Conservative	Emily Siddall	370	8.8	−15.0
	UKIP	Zak Brown	203	4.8	+4.8
	Green	Rod Riesco	140	3.3	−2.4
Majority			593	14.1
Turnout			4,200	43.1	+5.1
	Horwich and Blackrod First gain from Labour		Swing

Hulton ward

Hulton ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Derek Bullock	1,617	46.6	−3.5
	Labour	Shafaqat Shaikh	1,157	33.4	−5.8
	UKIP	Amy Wunderley	389	11.2	+5.4
	Green	Wendy Shepherd	181	5.2	+2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Gradwell	122	3.5	+1.7
Majority			460	13.3	+2.3
Turnout			3,466	35.0	−2.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	Labour to UKIP 5.6

Kearsley ward

Kearsley ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Farnworth and Kearsley First	Paul Heslop	2,376	67.8	+15.5
	Labour	Kevan Jones	529	15.1	−9.6
	UKIP	William Pilkington	283	8.1	−3.1
	Conservative	Kamaran Fathulla	192	5.5	−2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Connor Goodwin	128	3.6	−0.1
Majority			1,847	52.6	+25.1
Turnout			3,508	34.0	−0.1
	Farnworth and Kearsley First gain from Labour		Swing	Labour to FKF 12.5

Little Lever and Darcy Lever ward

Little Lever and Darcy Lever ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UKIP	Sean Hornby	1,395	39.3	+11.5
	Conservative	David Meehan	1,060	29.8	−0.2
	Labour	Kevin Allsop	928	26.1	−11.4
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Mulligan	169	4.7	−0.1
Majority			335	9.4
Turnout			3,552	37.2	+2.5
	UKIP hold		Swing	Labour to UKIP 11.4

Rumworth ward

Rumworth ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ebrahim Adia	2,541	72.9	−2.8
	Conservative	Hafiz Butt	380	11.0	−0.2
	Green	Alan Johnson	275	7.9	+0.5
	UKIP	Michael Armstrong	221	6.3	+6.3
	Liberal Democrats	David Cooper	72	2.1	−0.4
Majority			2,161	61.9	−2.6
Turnout			3,489	35.6	+1.2
	Labour hold		Swing	Labour to UKIP 4.5

Smithills ward

Smithills ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Gary Veevers	1,968	52.2	+3.3
	Labour	Ruth Pitchford	864	22.9	−7.4
	UKIP	Joe Harris	479	12.7	+12.7
	Conservative	Sam Rimmer	457	12.1	−6.0
Majority			1,104	29.3	+10.7
Turnout			3,768	36.0	−4.2
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	Labour to UKIP 10.0

Tonge with The Haulgh ward

Tonge with The Haulgh ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elaine Sherrington	1,152	42.2	−8.2
	Conservative	Brian Matthews	760	27.8	−6.1
	UKIP	Trevor Jones	663	24.3	+16.3
	Liberal Democrats	Rosalind Harasiwka	154	5.6	+1.5
Majority			392	14.4	−2.1
Turnout			2,729	31.3	+0.3
	Labour hold		Swing	Labour to UKIP 12.2

Westhoughton North and Chew Moor ward

Westhoughton North and Chew Moor ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Bernadette Eckersley-Fallon	1,565	39.0	+6.8
	Conservative	Zoe Jennifer Catherine Kirk-Robinson	1,270	31.7	−11.9
	Labour	Mike Jarvis	565	14.1	−4.1
	Westhoughton First Independent	Jack Speight	319	7.9	+1.2
	UKIP	Kieran Boardman	292	7.3	+7.3
Majority			295	7.3
Turnout			4,011	37.3	−2.4
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	Conservative to UKIP 9.6

Westhoughton South ward

Westhoughton South ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Deirdrie McGeown	1,114	33.1	−20.1
	Labour	David Chadwick	889	26.5	+1.8
	Conservative	Martin Tighe	648	19.2	−2.9
	UKIP	Jenny Armstrong	349	10.4	+10.4
Majority			225	6.7	−4.5
Turnout			3,369	34.7	+2.3
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing	Liberal Democrats to Independents 15.5