2023 West Lancashire Borough Council election

← 2022

4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)

2024 →

All 45 seats on West Lancashire Borough Council
23 seats needed for a majority

	First party	Second party

Leader	Yvonne Gagen	David Westley
Party	Labour	Conservative
Seats before	25	20
Seats after	26	15

	Third party	Fourth party

Leader	Adrian Owens
Party	OWL	Independent
Seats before	7^[a]	2
Seats after	4	0

Leader before election

Yvonne Gagen
Labour
No overall control

Leader after election

Yvonne Gagen
Labour

The 2023 West Lancashire Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023, to elect all 45 members of West Lancashire Borough Council in Lancashire, England. The council is usually elected in thirds, but the whole council was up for election in 2023 following changes to ward boundaries, which reduced the number of councillors from 54 to 45.^[2]

Background

A parliamentary by-election in the constituency of the same name in February 2023 saw Labour's candidate Ashley Dalton elected on a 10% swing.^[3]

Overview

Prior to the election the council was under no overall control, being led by a Labour minority administration.^[4]

Following the results, the Labour Party won the council from no overall control.^[5]^[6]

Ward Results

Aughton & Holborn

Aughton & Holborn
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Sarah Lawton	1,216	51.3
	Labour	Paul Hennessy	1,215	51.2
	Labour	Kerry Lloyd	1,178	49.7
	Conservative	David O'Toole	1,050	44.3
	Conservative	Bruce Porteous	1,035	43.6
	Conservative	Doreen Stephenson	989	41.7
Turnout			2,372	37
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Burscough Bridge & Rufford

Burscough Bridge & Rufford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Gordon	1,043	52.4
	Conservative	Eddie Pope	1,024	51.5
	Conservative	Jayne Rear	939	47.2
	Labour	Sophia Hennessy	787	39.5
	Labour	Mary Jones	769	38.6
	Labour	Pinar Robinson	676	34.0
	Liberal Democrats	Ruxandra-Mihaela Trandafoiu	231	11.6
Turnout			1,990	35
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Burscough Town

Burscough Town
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Patricia Burnside	885	50.9
	Labour	Andrew Fowler	823	47.4
	OWL	Paul Hesketh	776	44.7
	Labour	Damian Owen	750	43.2
	Conservative	Jason Grice	421	24.2
	Conservative	Richard Ainsworth	323	18.6
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Pollington	215	12.4
	Conservative	Dan Rear	208	12.0
Turnout			1,737	33
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	OWL win (new seat)

North Meols & Hesketh Bank

North Meols & Hesketh Bank
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Howard	954	58.2
	Conservative	Thomas De Freitas	862	52.6
	Conservative	Ian Eccles	845	51.6
	Labour	Cynthia Dereli	459	28.0
	Labour	George Oliver	408	24.9
	Labour	Gavin Jones-Verity	390	23.8
	Liberal Democrats	Karen Taylor	230	14.0
	Green	Edwin Black	206	12.6
Turnout			1,638	29
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Old Skelmersdale

Old Skelmersdale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Neil Furey	1,167	80.2
	Labour	Nicola Pryce-Roberts	1,041	71.5
	Labour	Donna West	1,029	70.7
	Conservative	Keith Ashcroft	176	12.1
	Conservative	Ruth Melling	166	11.4
	Conservative	Juliana Gudgeon	157	10.8
Turnout			1,455	23
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Ormskirk East

Ormskirk East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Nicola Hennessy	1,211	51.4
	Labour	Robert Molloy	1,057	44.9
	Labour	Adam Yates	1,022	43.4
	OWL	Janet Ingman	1,011	42.9
	OWL	Gordon Johnson	969	41.1
	OWL	Adrian Owens	954	40.5
	Conservative	Linda Gresty	168	7.1
	Conservative	Kate Maughan	167	7.1
	Conservative	Dave Meadows	163	6.9
Turnout			2,355	39
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Ormskirk West

Ormskirk West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Mark Anderson	1,073	49.9
	Labour	Gareth Dowling	1,055	49.0
	Labour	Anne Fennell	1,053	49.0
	OWL	Jane Thompson	882	41.0
	OWL	Kate Mitchell	874	40.6
	OWL	John Evans	771	35.8
	Conservative	Laura Sampson	178	8.3
	Conservative	Sarah Westley	167	7.8
	Conservative	Bill Witter	145	6.7
Turnout			2,151	35
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Rural North East

Rural North East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Rob Bailey	1,182	48.1
	Conservative	Katie Juckes	1,059	43.1
	Conservative	David Whittington	1,023	41.7
	Labour	Margaret Blake	891	36.3
	Labour	Stephen Kirrelly	766	31.2
	Labour	Michael Paris	751	30.6
	OWL	Neil Pye	480	19.5
	Liberal Democrats	John Puddifer	383	15.6
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Chandler	299	12.2
Turnout			2,456	40
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Rural South

The election in Rural South ward was delayed until 22nd June as a result of the death of one of the candidates.

Rural South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	OWL	Ian Rigby	704	48.0
	OWL	Linda Webster	674	46.0
	OWL	Thomas Marsh-Pritchard	664	45.3
	Labour	Julie Gibson	486	33.2
	Labour	Ian Moran	485	33.1
	Labour	Paul Dickie	479	32.7
	Conservative	Sangeeta Naraen	241	16.4
	Conservative	Paul Turpin	233	15.9
	Conservative	Asheem Naraen	226	15.4
Turnout			1,466	28
	OWL win (new seat)
	OWL win (new seat)
	OWL win (new seat)

Rural West

Rural West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Alex Blundell	765	43.6
	Conservative	Jane Marshall	684	39.0
	Conservative	Marilyn Westley	670	38.2
	Labour	Michael Brooks	655	37.3
	Labour	Pauline Gamester	625	35.6
	Labour	John Watt	596	33.9
	OWL	Richard Brown	569	32.4
Turnout			1,756	31
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Skelmersdale North

Skelmersdale North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Yvonne Gagen	998	79.6
	Labour	Terence Devine	975	77.8
	Labour	Melissa Parlour	915	73.0
	Conservative	Jason Chapman	168	13.4
	Conservative	Sue Janvier	142	11.3
	Conservative	Nigel Fielding	138	11.0
Turnout			1,254	22
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Skelmersdale South

Skelmersdale South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Terence Aldridge	974	76.2
	Labour	Victoria Cummins	922	72.1
	Labour	Julian Finch	828	64.7
	Skelmersdale Independents	Aaron Body	245	19.2
	Conservative	Malcolm Hayman	94	7.3
	Conservative	Jean Ross	92	7.2
	Conservative	Ian White	87	6.8
Turnout			1,279	22
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Tanhouse & Skelmersdale Town Centre

Tanhouse & Skelmersdale Town Centre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Carl Coughlan	925	78.2
	Labour	Paul Hogan	920	77.8
	Labour	Maureen Nixon	902	76.2
	Conservative	Sue Brake	151	12.8
	Conservative	Gillian Taylor	136	11.5
	Conservative	William Cropper	135	11.4
Turnout			1,183	19
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Tarleton Village

Tarleton Village
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Joan Witter	1,082	59.2
	Conservative	Darren Daniels	992	54.2
	Conservative	David Westley	987	54.0
	Labour	Janice Monaghan	578	31.6
	Labour	Noel Delaney	512	28.0
	Labour	Christopher Sawyer	509	27.8
	Liberal Democrats	Tina Stringfellow	378	20.7
Turnout			1,829	33
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Up Holland

Up Holland
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John Fillis	1,128	65.8
	Labour	Suresh Patel	1,097	64.0
	Labour	Gaynar Owen	1,063	62.0
	Conservative	James Dorling	463	27.0
	Conservative	Julie Peel	447	26.1
	Conservative	John Mee	392	22.9
Turnout			1,714	29
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

References

^ Including one vacant seat in the old Derby ward which had been held by Our West Lancashire councillor Ian Davis until his death in April 2023.^[1]

^ Boothroyd, David (21 April 2023). "Manifest destiny". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
^ "The West Lancashire (Electoral Changes) Order 2022", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2022/1179, retrieved 27 June 2023
^ Bugel, Safi; Adu, Aletha (2023-02-10). "Labour wins West Lancashire byelection with 10% swing". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
^ "Your councillors by party". West Lancashire Borough Council. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
^ Hainey, Fionnula (2023-05-05). "Election results from West Lancashire local council election 2023 count in full". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
^ "West Lancashire result - Local Elections 2023". BBC News. Retrieved 2023-05-07.

v t e Council elections in Lancashire
Lancashire County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021
Blackburn with Darwen	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Blackpool	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1997 2000 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Burnley	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Chorley	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Fylde	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Hyndburn	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Lancaster	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Pendle	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Preston	1945 1946 1947 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Ribble Valley	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Rossendale	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
South Ribble	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
West Lancashire	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Wyre	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
See also: Wards Boundary changes

(2022 ←)

2023 United Kingdom local elections (→ 2024)

England

Metropolitan boroughs	Barnsley Bolton Bradford Bury Calderdale Coventry Dudley Gateshead Kirklees Knowsley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside Oldham Rochdale Salford Sandwell Sefton Sheffield Solihull South Tyneside Stockport Sunderland Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton
Unitary authorities	Bath and North East Somerset Bedford Blackburn with Darwen Blackpool Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Bracknell Forest Brighton and Hove Central Bedfordshire Cheshire East Cheshire West and Chester Darlington Derby East Riding of Yorkshire Halton Hartlepool Herefordshire Hull Leicester Luton Medway Middlesbrough Milton Keynes North East Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire North Somerset Nottingham Peterborough Plymouth Portsmouth Reading Redcar and Cleveland Rutland Slough South Gloucestershire Southampton Southend-on-Sea Stockton-on-Tees Stoke-on-Trent Swindon Telford and Wrekin Thurrock Torbay West Berkshire Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham York
Non-metropolitan districts	Amber Valley Arun Ashfield Ashford Babergh Basildon Basingstoke and Deane Bassetlaw Blaby Bolsover Boston Braintree Breckland Brentwood Broadland Bromsgrove Broxbourne Broxtowe Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Canterbury Castle Point Charnwood Chelmsford Cherwell Chesterfield Chichester Chorley Colchester Cotswold Crawley Dacorum Dartford Derbyshire Dales Dover East Cambridgeshire East Devon East Hampshire East Hertfordshire East Lindsey East Staffordshire East Suffolk Eastbourne Eastleigh Elmbridge Epping Forest Epsom and Ewell Erewash Exeter Fenland Folkestone & Hythe Forest of Dean Fylde Gedling Gravesham Great Yarmouth Guildford Harborough Harlow Hart Havant Hertsmere High Peak Hinckley and Bosworth Horsham Hyndburn Ipswich King's Lynn and West Norfolk Lancaster Lewes Lichfield Lincoln Maidstone Maldon Malvern Hills Mansfield Melton Mid Devon Mid Suffolk Mid Sussex Mole Valley New Forest Newark and Sherwood North Devon North East Derbyshire North Hertfordshire North Kesteven North Norfolk North Warwickshire North West Leicestershire Norwich Oadby and Wigston Pendle Preston Redditch Reigate and Banstead Ribble Valley Rochford Rossendale Rother Rugby Runnymede Rushcliffe Rushmoor Sevenoaks South Derbyshire South Hams South Holland South Kesteven South Norfolk South Oxfordshire South Ribble South Staffordshire Spelthorne St Albans Stafford Staffordshire Moorlands Stevenage Stratford-on-Avon Surrey Heath Swale Tamworth Tandridge Teignbridge Tendring Test Valley Tewkesbury Thanet Three Rivers Tonbridge and Malling Torridge Tunbridge Wells Uttlesford Vale of White Horse Warwick Watford Waverley Wealden Welwyn Hatfield West Devon West Lancashire West Lindsey West Oxfordshire West Suffolk Winchester Woking Worcester Worthing Wychavon Wyre Wyre Forest
Mayoral	Bedford Leicester Mansfield Middlesbrough

Northern Ireland