2023 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council election

The 2023 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council.^[1] It took place on the same day as other local elections. Seventeen members of the council were elected, one from each of the wards. This set of seats were last up for election in 2019.^[2]

2023 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council election

← 2022 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2024 →
17 of 51 seats to Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council 26 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	27.4%
First party Second party   Leader Phil Riley John Slater Party Labour Conservative Last election 36 seats, 60.3% 13 seats, 32.4% Seats before 37 13 Seats won 14 3 Seats after 39 12 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 17,949 8,633 Percentage 63.0% 30.3% Swing 2.7% 2.1%
Winner of each seat at 2023 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council election
Leader before election Phil Riley Labour Leader after election Phil Riley Labour

Labour retained its majority on the council, making two gains in Darwen.^[3][4]

Background

The 17 seats being contested were held prior to the election as follows:

• Labour: 12 defences (25 other seats)
• Conservative: 4 defences (9 other seats)
• Liberal Democrat: 1 defence (0 other seats)

Summary

Election result

2023 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	14	2	82.4	25	39	76.5	17,949	63.0	+2.7
	Conservative	3	1	17.6	9	12	23.5	8,633	30.3	–2.1
	Liberal Democrats	0	1	0.0	0	0	0.0	1,440	5.1	+1.8
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	255	0.9	N/A
	Independent	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	153	0.5	–3.6
	ADF	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	56	0.2	N/A

Councillors standing down

Councillor	Ward	First elected	Party		Date announced
Paul Browne[5]	Darwen East	2019		Liberal Democrats	28 March 2023[6]
Zainab Rawat[7]	Shear Brow and Corporation Park	2019		Labour	28 March 2023[6]

Ward results

Comparisons for the purpose of determining a gain, hold or loss of a seat, is to the last time these specific seats were up for election in 2019. An asterisk indicates the incumbent councillor (*).

The Statement of Persons Nominated details the candidates standing in each ward. It was released on 5 April 2023.^[8]

Audley & Queen's Park

Audley & Queen's Park^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Salim Sidat*	1,213	67.1	+27.6
	Conservative	Amin Kapida	333	18.4	+5.7
	Independent	Mahmood Tariq	139	7.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Rameez Mukadam	109	6.0	N/A
	Independent	Ahsan Bhatti	14	0.8	N/A
Majority			880	48.7	+40.4
Turnout			1,817	28.4	–4.6
	Labour hold		Swing	11.0

Bastwell & Daisyfield

Bastwell & Daisyfield^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shaukat Hussain*	1,666	80.4	+4.0
	Conservative	Ismail Ibrahim Bapu Patel	406	19.6	–4.0
Majority			1,260	60.8	+8.0
Turnout			2,081	35.2	–2.6
	Labour hold		Swing	4.0

Billinge & Beardwood

Billinge & Beardwood^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jackie Floyd*	1,303	62.0	–2.7
	Conservative	Imtiaz Ali	687	32.7	+5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Tahir Mahmood	110	5.2	N/A
Majority			616	29.3	–7.7
Turnout			2,113	34.2	–3.0
	Labour hold		Swing	3.9

Blackburn Central

Blackburn Central^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mahfooz Hussain*	1,043	76.4	+8.9
	Conservative	Ghulam Sabir	220	16.1	–4.1
	Liberal Democrats	Siama Bhatti	103	7.5	N/A
Majority			823	60.3	+13.0
Turnout			1,376	22.1	–3.9
	Labour hold		Swing	6.5

Blackburn South & Lower Darwen

Blackburn South & Lower Darwen^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Slater*	839	56.0	–4.0
	Labour	Liz Johnson	659	44.0	+4.0
Majority			180	12.0	–8.0
Turnout			1,506	26.3	+0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.0

Blackburn South East

Blackburn South East^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Vicky Ellen McGurk*	722	73.4	+0.3
	Conservative	Henry Arnold	262	26.6	–0.3
Majority			460	46.8	+0.6
Turnout			1,004	16.7	–1.9
	Labour hold		Swing	0.3

Darwen East

Darwen East^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Matt Gibson	828	59.1	+4.6
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Davies	351	25.1	–1.8
	Conservative	Ryan Slater	222	15.8	–2.7
Majority			477	34.0	+6.4
Turnout			1,407	21.9	–3.7
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	3.2

Darwen South

Darwen South^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anthony Nicholas Shaw	848	45.3	+7.0
	Conservative	Lilian Salton*	764	40.8	–5.3
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Huggill	204	10.9	–4.8
	ADF	David Stephen Wilson-Parr	56	3.0	N/A
Majority			84	4.5	N/A
Turnout			1,874	28.8	–1.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	6.2

Darwen West

Darwen West^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephanie Rose Brookfield*	1,196	62.8	–2.9
	Conservative	Janine Crook	596	31.3	+0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Connor Plumley	113	5.9	+2.3
Majority			600	31.5	–3.5
Turnout			1,920	30.8	–3.9
	Labour hold		Swing	1.8

Ewood

Ewood^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Casey*	740	58.2	–2.2
	Conservative	Rick Moore	532	41.8	+2.2
Majority			208	16.4	–4.4
Turnout			1,283	20.8	–2.5
	Labour hold		Swing	2.2

Little Harwood & Whitebirk

Little Harwood & Whitebirk^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mustafa Ali Desai*	1,222	80.3	+9.1
	Conservative	Arshad Mahmood	203	13.3	–15.5
	Liberal Democrats	Ahmed Miah	97	6.4	N/A
Majority			1,019	67.0	+24.6
Turnout			1,534	25.3	–6.7
	Labour hold		Swing	12.3

Livesey with Pleasington

Livesey with Pleasington^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul David Marrow*	1,360	67.5	+1.5
	Labour	Michael John Jackson	655	32.5	–1.5
Majority			705	35.0	+3.0
Turnout			2,026	31.5	–1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.5

Mill Hill & Moorgate

Mill Hill & Moorgate^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Damian Talbot*	765	68.1	+5.6
	Conservative	Les Cade	259	23.0	–14.5
	Green	Robin Field	100	8.9	N/A
Majority			506	45.1	+20.1
Turnout			1,130	20.2	–2.9
	Labour hold		Swing	10.1

Roe Lee

Roe Lee^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Phil Riley*	1,182	67.4	+1.5
	Conservative	Carl Lever	418	23.8	–10.3
	Green	Paul Morley	155	8.8	N/A
Majority			764	43.6	N/A
Turnout			1,768	27.8	–5.5
	Labour hold		Swing	5.9

Shear Brow & Corporation Park

Shear Brow & Corporation Park^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Salma Patel	1,536	90.5	–0.4
	Conservative	Zak Hussain	161	9.5	+0.4
Majority			1,375	81.0	N/A
Turnout			1,715	27.9	–5.7
	Labour hold		Swing	0.4

Wensley Fold

Wensley Fold^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Quesir Mahmood*	1,621	90.1	+1.1
	Conservative	Margaret Marrow	179	9.9	–1.1
Majority			1,442	80.2	+2.2
Turnout			1,814	30.2	–1.7
	Labour hold		Swing	1.1

West Pennine

West Pennine^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jean Rigby*	1,192	51.9	–4.4
	Labour	Liam Dobson	750	32.7	+0.1
	Liberal Democrats	John East	353	15.4	+4.4
Majority			442	19.2	–4.5
Turnout			2,306	37.4	–1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.3

References

1. "Notice of Election" (PDF). Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. 24 March 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
2. Jagger, David (12 April 2023). "Local Elections 2023: Every candidate standing in Lancashire". Lancashire Telegraph.
3. Khan, Shuiab (5 May 2023). "Double Darwen 'joy' for Labour as party makes two gains". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
4. "Local elections 2023: Labour narrowly fails to take control of Burnley". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
5. https://democracy.blackburn.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=463
6. Jacobs, Bill (28 March 2023). "Blackburn with Darwen Council's lone LibDem retires again". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
7. https://democracy.blackburn.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=465
8. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. 4 April 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
9. "Local election results: 5 May 2023". democracy.blackburn.gov.uk. Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2023.