Darwen Town Council

Darwen Town Council is the parish council covering the town of Darwen, England. It serves 27,200 residents.^[2] The council has its headquarters at Darwen Town Hall.

Darwen Town Council
Logo
Type
Type	Parish council
History
Founded	2 April 2009; 16 years ago (2009-04-02)[1]
Leadership
Mayor	Stephanie Brookfield, (Labour)
Leader	Jonathan Hamer, (Labour)
Clerk	Rebecca Hay, (non-political post)
Structure
Seats	13 councillors
Political groups	Labour Party: 12 seats   Conservative Party: 1 seat
Length of term	Whole council elected every four years
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	2 May 2024
Next election	TBA
Meeting place
Darwen Town Hall
Website
darwentowncouncil.gov.uk

History

On 16 October 2008 a referendum was held in Darwen on the creation of a town council. Of the 20,495 electors eligible to vote, a total of 4,198 took part in the referendum. The result of the referendum was as follows: 2,378 voted yes, 1,725 (8.42%) voted no, 95 ballot papers were rejected and turnout was 20.49%.^[3]

In December, following the referendum Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council approved the creation of the council.^[4] the council was created on 2 April 2009 with the first election in June.^[1]

Responsibilities

The town council receives funding by levying a "precept" on the council tax paid by the residents of the civil parish. The council runs events and projects to promote Darwen and also provide funding in the community for projects and parks.

Political control

Party in control		Years
	For Darwen	2009–2012
	Labour	2012–2021
	No overall control	2021–2024
	Labour	2024–present

At the first elections to the council in June 2009, the For Darwen Party took control, winning 7 seats, the Liberal Democrats won 4 and the Conservative Party and Labour Party won one each.^[4][5] At the second election in May 2012 For Darwen lost all their seats with Labour taking control with 8 seats to the Lib Dems 5.^[4] In the 2016 elections Labour won 7, Lib Dems 4 and Conservatives 2.^[6]

In the 6 May 2021 election seats were as follows; 5 Labour, 4, Conservative and 4 Lib Dem.^[7]

On the 2 May 2024 elections, Labour took back firm control by winning 12 of the 13 seats with the Conservatives winning the other remaining seat.^[8]

Wards and Councillors

Since 2009, Darwen is served by a Town Council, which since 2018 is divided into 4 Wards, 3 of which are represented by four town councillors and the other by one town councillor.^[9]

Current town council
Ward	Councillor	Party
Darwen East Ward	Julie Dugan		Labour
	Matt Gibson		Labour
	Martin McCaughran		Labour
	Mark Westall		Labour
Darwen South Ward	Liam Dobson		Labour
	Paul O'Garr		Labour
	Anthony Shaw		Labour
	Sue Skipper		Labour
Darwen South Rural Ward	Steve Duncan		Conservative
Darwen West Ward	Stephanie Brookfield		Labour
	Jonathan Hamer		Labour
	Dave Smith		Labour
	Brian Taylor		Labour

Elections

  Labour: 12 seats

  Conservative: 1 seat

2024

Darwen East

Darwen East (4 councillors)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin McCaughran	771
	Labour	Julie Dugan	719
	Labour	Matt Gibson	688
	Labour	Mark Westall	645
	Independent	Paul Browne	477
	Independent	Mark Davies	422
	Conservative	Ryan Slater	302
	Spoilt Ballots	—	6	—	—
Turnout			4,030	20.96
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Darwen South

Darwen South (4 councillors)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anthony Shaw	947
	Labour	Sue Skipper	883
	Labour	Liam Dobson	870
	Labour	Paul O'Garr	862
	Conservative	Kevin Connor	786
	Conservative	Neil Slater	753
	Conservative	Lilian Salton	729
	Conservative	Joan Hepple	689
	Spoilt Ballots	—	28	—	—
Turnout			6,547	28.58
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Darwen South Rural

Darwen South Rural (1 councillor)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steve Duncan	263
	Labour	Simon Charlesworth	188
	Spoilt Ballots	—	13	—	—
Turnout			464	31.52
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Darwen West

Darwen West (4 councillors)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Smith	1,212
	Labour	Brian Taylor	1,212
	Labour	Stephanie Brookfield	1,029
	Labour	Jonathan Hamer	984
	Conservative	Jacqueline Slater	419
	Spoilt Ballots	—	12	—	—
Turnout			4,868	28.50
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

  Labour: 5 seats

  Conservative: 4 seats

  Liberal Democrats: 4 seats

2021

Darwen East

Darwen East (4 councillors)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eileen Entwistle	853
	Liberal Democrats	Roy Davies	838
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Browne	688
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Davies	666
	Labour	Martin McCaughran	663
	Labour	Liz Johnson	569
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Huggill	558
	Labour	Steven Johnson	550
	Spoilt Ballots	—	44	—	—
Turnout			5,524	26.78
	Labour win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Darwen South

Darwen South (4 councillors)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kevin Connor	1,026
	Conservative	Neil Slater	1,003
	Conservative	Lilian Salton	988
	Conservative	Andrew Walker	975
	Labour	Sarah Rose	586
	Labour	Matt Gibson	572
	Labour	Laura Higab	518
	Liberal Democrats	Joan Hepple	426
	Labour	Jude Rowley	404
	Spoilt Ballots	—	15	—	—
Turnout			6,513	31.30
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Darwen South Rural

Darwen South Rural (1 councillor)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John East	425
	Labour	Matt Jackson	94
	Spoilt Ballots	—	21	—	—
Turnout			540	36.50
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Darwen West

Darwen West (4 councillors)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Smith	1,171
	Labour	Brian Taylor	1,113
	Labour	Stephanie Brookfield	990
	Labour	Jonathon Hamer	923
	Conservative	Lynn Perkins	735
	Conservative	Janine Crook	883
	Conservative	Rob Toner	669
	Conservative	Ryan Slater	664
	Spoilt Ballots	—	18	—	—
Turnout			7,166	33.90
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Mayors

List of mayors of Darwen
Tenure	Name	Party		Notes
2009–2012	Paul Browne		Liberal Democrats	[11]
2012–2016	Eileen Entwistle		Labour	[12]
2016–2017	Brian Taylor		Labour	[6][13]
2017-2019	Roy Davies		Liberal Democrats	[14]
2019–2022	Lillian Salton		Conservative	[14][15]
2022–present	Stephanie Brookfield		Labour	[15]

Leaders

List of leaders of Darwen
Tenure	Name	Party		Notes
2009–2010	Phil Jones		For Darwen	[11]
2010	Trevor Maxfield		For Darwen	[16]
2010–2012	Steve Duncan		Liberal Democrats	[17]
2012-2017	Trevor Maxfield		Labour	[12]
2017–2024	Kevin Conner		Conservative	[14]
2024–present	Jonathan Hamer		Labour	[18]