2023 Bury Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 2023 Bury Metropolitan Borough Council elections took place on 4 May 2023 alongside other local elections across the United Kingdom. One third of seats (17) on Bury Metropolitan Borough Council were contested. Labour retained its control of the council.

2023 Bury Metropolitan Council election

← 2022 4 May 2023 2024 →
17 out of 51 seats of Bury Metropolitan Borough Council 26 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	34.3% 5.0 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Eamonn O'Brien Russell Bernstein Mike Smith Party Labour Conservative Radcliffe First Leader's seat St Mary’s Pilkington Park Radcliffe West Last election 29 seats, 44.6% 12 seats, 34.4% 8 seats, 7.7% Seats before 28 12 8 Seats won 11 4 2 Seats after 31 11 8 Seat change 3 1 Popular vote 22,299 14,077 3,773 Percentage 46.3% 29.2% 7.8% Swing 1.7% 5.2% 0.1%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader None Cristina Tegolo Party Independent Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Holyrood Last election 1 seat, 0.3% 1 seat, 6.9% Seats before 2 1 Seats won 0 0 Seats after 1 0 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 1,826 2,627 Percentage 3.8% 5.5% Swing 3.5% 1.4%
The winner of each seat by party in the 2023 Bury Metropolitan Council Election
Leader before election Eamonn O'Brien Labour Leader after election Eamonn O'Brien Labour

Background

The Local Government Act 1972 created a two-tier system of metropolitan counties and districts covering Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, the West Midlands, and West Yorkshire starting in 1974. Bury was a district of the Greater Manchester metropolitan county.^[1] The Local Government Act 1985 abolished the metropolitan counties, with metropolitan districts taking on most of their powers as metropolitan boroughs. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority was created in 2011 and began electing the mayor of Greater Manchester from 2017, which was given strategic powers covering a region coterminous with the former Greater Manchester metropolitan county.^[2]

Since its formation, Bury has variously been under Labour control, Conservative control and no overall control. Councillors have predominantly been elected from the Labour Party and the Conservative Party, with some Liberal Democrat and independent councillors also serving. The council has had an overall Labour majority since the 2011 election.

In the previous election in 2022, where all 51 seats were up for election due to boundary changes, Labour won 29 seats, the Conservatives won 12 seats, Radcliffe First won eight seats, and the Liberal Democrats and an independent won one seat each.^[3]

Labour retained control of the council at this election.^[4][5]

Electoral process

The council generally elects its councillors in thirds, with a third being up for election every year for three years, with no election in the fourth year.^[6][7] The election was conducted using the first-past-the-post voting system, with each ward electing one councillor.

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in Bury aged 18 or over were entitled to vote in the election. People who lived at two addresses in different councils, such as university students with different term-time and holiday addresses, were entitled to be registered for and vote in elections in both local authorities. Voting in-person at polling stations took place from 07:00 to 22:00 on election day, and voters were able to apply for postal votes or proxy votes in advance of the election.

Council composition

After 2022 election			Before 2023 election
Party		Seats	Party		Seats
	Labour	29		Labour	28
	Conservative	12		Conservative	12
	Radcliffe First	8		Radcliffe First	8
	Liberal Democrats	1		Liberal Democrats	1
	Independent	1		Independent	2

Results summary

Bury Metropolitan Borough Council[8]
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	11	+3	64.7	20	31	60.8	22,299	46.3	+1.7
	Conservative	4	-1	23.5	7	11	21.6	14,077	29.2	-5.2
	Radcliffe First	2	0	11.8	6	8	15.7	3,773	7.8	+0.1
	Independent	0	-1	0.0	1	1	1.9	1,826	3.8	+3.5
	Green	0	0	0.0	0	0	0.0	3,193	6.6	+2.0
	Liberal Democrats	0	-1	0.0	0	0	0.0	2,627	5.5	-1.4
	English Democrat	0	0	0.0	0	0	0.0	241	0.5	+0.4
	Reform UK	0	0	0.0	0	0	0.0	105	0.2	0.0
	Communist	0	0	0.0	0	0	0.0	37	0.1	0.0

Ward results

Incumbent councillors are marked with an asterisk (*).

Besses

Besses (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Lucy Smith*	1,567	69.1	+12.1
	Independent	Martyn West	216	9.5	−3.4
	Conservative	Antonello Riu	201	8.9	−13.4
	Green	Cameron Fay	146	6.4	−8.0
	English Democrat	Stephen Morris	139	6.1	−0.7
Majority			1,351
Rejected ballots			13
Turnout			2,269	28
Registered electors
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Bury East

Bury East (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ummrana Farooq*	1,223	55.9	+14.1
	Conservative	Christopher Baron	624	28.5	−9.3
	Green	Lauren Hutchinson	147	6.7	−5.3
	Reform UK	Kevin Cadwallader	105	4.8	−3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Lewis	89	4.1	−3.8
Majority
Rejected ballots			17
Turnout			2,188	25.00
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

Bury West

Bury West (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Shahbaz Arif*	1,596	50.1	+3.7
	Labour	Adnan Chaudhry	1,112	34.9	+0.8
	Green	Jacqui Connor	480	15.1	+1.4
Majority
Rejected ballots			21
Turnout			3,188	38.00
Registered electors
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elton

Elton (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charlotte Morris*	1,623	48.4	+1.7
	Conservative	Andrew Luxton	1,486	44.3	−1.9
	Green	Michelle Sampson	158	4.7	N/A
	Independent	Raymond Solomon	86	2.6	N/A
Majority			137
Rejected ballots			4
Turnout			3,353
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

Holyrood

Holyrood (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lynn Ryder	1,696	47.6	+6.7
	Liberal Democrats	Steven Wright	1,446	40.6	−1.9
	Conservative	Geoffrey Baron	162	4.5	−5.2
	Green	Peter Curati	156	4.4	−4.9
	English Democrat	Valerie Morris	102	2.9	N/A
Majority			250
Rejected ballots			7
Turnout			3,562	41
Registered electors
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Moorside

Moorside (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Babar Ibrahim	1,429	56.0	+6.9
	Conservative	Samia Farid	697	27.3	−9.4
	Independent	Victor Cromwell Hagan	216	8.5	−0.1
	Green	Karen Lesley Wood	208	8.2	−2.4
Majority			732
Rejected ballots			8
Turnout			2,550	30
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

North Manor

North Manor (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Khalid Hussain*	1,571	42.5	−2.7
	Labour	John Southworth	1,489	40.3	+0.4
	Green	Charlie Allen	501	13.5	−9.7
	Liberal Democrats	Ewan Arthur	137	3.7	−15.6
Majority			82
Rejected ballots			12
Turnout			3,698	45
Registered electors
	Conservative hold		Swing

Pilkington Park

Pilkington Park (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Rubinstein	1,557	48.2	+5.4
	Conservative	Nick Jones*	1,177	36.4	−7.9
	Independent	Shadman Zaman	237	7.3	N/A
	Green	Chlöe Thomas	129	4.0	−10.9
	Liberal Democrats	David Foss	94	2.9	N/A
	Communist	Dan Ross	37	1.1	N/A
Majority			380
Rejected ballots			9
Turnout			3,231	43
Registered electors
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Radcliffe East

Radcliffe East (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radcliffe First	Mary Walsh*	1,329	60.2	+8.7
	Labour	Sally-Ann McGill	636	28.8	−0.7
	Conservative	Carol Bernstein	175	7.9	−3.9
	Green	Heather Sharples	66	3.0	−2.5
Majority			693
Rejected ballots			7
Turnout			2,206	27
Registered electors
	Radcliffe First hold		Swing

Radcliffe North & Ainsworth

Radcliffe North & Ainsworth (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jo Lancaster*	1,279	38.7	+3.0
	Radcliffe First	Ken Simpson	1,218	36.8	+3.2
	Labour	Richard Jamieson	731	22.1	−1.8
	Green	Gary Kirkley	80	2.4	−0.6
Majority			71
Rejected ballots			15
Turnout			3,308	35
Registered electors
	Conservative hold		Swing

Radcliffe West

Radcliffe West (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radcliffe First	Mike Smith*	1,226	56.9	+12.0
	Labour	Josh Harcup	669	31.1	−6.3
	Conservative	Shirley Balfour	193	9.0	−4.9
	Green	Mary Heath	47	2.2	−2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Kamran Islam	19	0.9	−1.8
Majority			557
Rejected ballots			7
Turnout			2,154	26
Registered electors
	Radcliffe First hold		Swing

Ramsbottom

Incumbent councillor Spencer Donnelly was suspended from the Labour Party in September 2022 and sat as an independent for the remainder of his term.^[9]

Ramsbottom (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gareth Staples-Jones	2,062	56.4	+8.7
	Conservative	Ian Strachan	1,296	35.5	−4.7
	Green	Waleed Hamdan	149	4.1	−5.8
	Liberal Democrats	Martyn Bristow	147	4.0	−7.0
Majority			766
Rejected ballots			16
Turnout			3,654	40
Registered electors
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing

Redvales

Redvales (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shaheena Haroon*	1,558	63.7	+18.7
	Conservative	Greg Keeley	456	18.6	−22.4
	Independent	Dave Bentley	306	12.5	N/A
	Green	Paul Johnstone	126	5.2	−6.1
Majority			1,102
Rejected ballots			14
Turnout			2,446	28
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

Sedgley

Sedgley (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Debbie Quinn*	1,896	70.1	+8.0
	Conservative	Stefano Zuri	591	21.8	−3.8
	Green	Glyn Heath	218	8.1	−3.8
Majority			1,305
Rejected ballots			28
Turnout			2,705	28
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

St. Marys

St. Marys (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Sean Thorpe*	1,852	62.6	+19.4
	Conservative	Jihyun Park	427	14.4	+3.9
	Liberal Democrats	Ugonna Aiphodimma Edeoga	426	14.4	−13.8
	Green	Nick Hubble	254	8.6	−1.5
Majority			1,425
Rejected ballots			19
Turnout			2,959	34
Registered electors
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Tottington

Tottington (1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Iain Gartside*	1,219	40.5	−3.3
	Labour	Sam Turner	821	27.3	+1.6
	Independent	Wendy Warrington	765	25.4	N/A
	Green	Beth Dunkerley	134	4.5	−9.7
	Liberal Democrats	Cristina Tegolo	71	2.4	N/A
Majority			398
Rejected ballots			10
Turnout			3,010	38
Registered electors
	Conservative hold		Swing

Unsworth

Unsworth (1)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tahir Rafiq*	1,807	57.5	+4.7
	Conservative	Ryan Johnson	945	30.1	−9.4
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Hankey	198	6.3	N/A
	Green	Laura Thomas	194	6.2	N/A
Majority			862
Rejected ballots			22
Turnout			3,144	37
Registered electors
	Labour hold		Swing

Changes 2023–2024

• James Mason, elected for Radcliffe First, left the party in January 2024 and was subsequently disqualified as a councillor in April 2024 for non-attendance.^[10]