The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton shown within England.
The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton shown within England.

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council elections are generally held three years out of every four, with a third of the council being elected each time. Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, generally known as Bolton Council, is the local authority for the metropolitan borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. Since the last boundary changes in 2004, 60 councillors have been elected from 20 wards.[1] New ward boundaries are being prepared to take effect from the 2023 election.[2]

Political control

From 1889 to 1974 Bolton was a county borough, independent of any county council.[3] Under the Local Government Act 1972 it had its territory enlarged and became a metropolitan borough, with Greater Manchester County Council providing county-level services. The first election to the reconstituted borough council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its revised powers on 1 April 1974. Greater Manchester County Council was abolished in 1986 and Bolton became a unitary authority. Political control of the council since 1973 has been held by the following parties:[4][5]

Party in control Years
Conservative 1973–1980
Labour 1980–2003
No overall control 2003–2011
Labour 2011–2019
No overall control 2019–present

Leadership

The first leader of the metropolitan borough council, John Hanscomb, had been the last leader of the old county borough council (or corporation) of Bolton. The leaders of the council since 1974 have been:[6]

Councillor Party From To
John Hanscomb Conservative 1974 1980
Bob Howarth[7] Labour 1980 13 Jun 2004
Barbara Ronson Liberal Democrats Jun 2004 May 2006
Cliff Morris[8] Labour May 2006 31 Dec 2017
Linda Thomas Labour 5 Feb 2018 22 May 2019
David Greenhalgh[9] Conservative 22 May 2019 29 Jul 2021
Martyn Cox Conservative 25 Aug 2021

Council elections

Between 1973 and 1980, there were 69 councillors; three seats for each of the 23 wards. Following ward boundary changes for the 1980 election, the number of wards was reduced to 20 and all 60 seats were contested.[10] Further boundary changes were made for the 2004 election and again all council seats were contested.[1]

By-election results

Daubhill ward by-election 10 April 1997 [14][15][16]
(Triggered by the disqualification of Cllr. Martin Donaghy)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Dennis Barlow 1,402 68.8
Conservative Jean Walsh 332 16.3
Liberal Democrats Margaret Rothwell 182 8.9
Socialist Labour Doris Kelly 120 5.9
Majority 1,070 52.5
Turnout 2,036 24.0
Labour hold
Daubhill ward by-election 21 November 2002 [17][18][19]
(Triggered by the death of Cllr. Dennis Barlow)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Fitzpatrick 721 37.3 -18.4
Liberal Democrats Linden Greensitt 625 32.3 +15.3
Conservative Yakub Jiva 587 30.4 +3.0
Majority 96 5.0
Turnout 1,933 21.4
Labour hold
Crompton ward by-election 13 July 2006 [20][21][22]
(Triggered by the resignation of Cllr. Iqbal Patel)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Hanif Darvesh 1,793 57.4 +33.8
Conservative Donald Fairclough 978 31.3 +11.4
Liberal Democrats John Cronnelly 224 7.2 -39.8
Green Rachel Mann 96 3.1 +3.1
Socialist Labour Lynne Lowe 35 1.1 -3.7
Majority 815 26.1
Turnout 3,126 30.7
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats
Daubhill ward by-election 1 October 2009 [23][24]
(Triggered by the resignation of Cllr. Emma Scowcroft)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Guy Harkin 1,528 47.4 -2.6
Conservative Kath Kavanagh 935 29.0 +1.0
Independent Mohmed Alli 377 11.7 +11.7
Liberal Democrats Anne Warren 284 8.8 -13.2
Green Angela Tibke 99 3.1 +3.1
Majority 593 18.4
Turnout 3,223 31.0
Labour hold
Harper Green ward by-election 19 December 2013 [25][26]
(Triggered by the death of Cllr. Margaret Clare)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Asha Ali Ismail 744 51.9 -15.2
Conservative Robert Tyler 325 22.7 +1.1
UKIP Peter McGeehan 252 17.6 +17.6
Green Kathy Sykes 60 4.2 +4.2
Liberal Democrats Wendy Connor 53 3.7 -7.7
Majority 419
Turnout 1,450
Labour hold
Harper Green ward by-election 16 October 2014 [27][28]
(Triggered by the death of Cllr. Asha Ali Ismail)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Susan Haworth 1,176 50.7 -6.3
UKIP Jeff Armstrong 777 33.5 +9.3
Conservative Robert Tyler 282 12.2 0.0
Green James Tomkinson 38 1.6 -2.2
Liberal Democrats Rebekah Fairhurst 28 1.2 -1.7
Independent Joseph Holt 19 0.8 +0.8
Majority 399
Turnout
Labour hold
Crompton ward by-election 11 February 2016 [29][30]
(Triggered by the death of Cllr. Sufrana Bashir-Ismail)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bilkis Bashir-Ismail 1,961 70.9 +7.9
UKIP Paul Eccles 320 11.6 +11.6
Conservative Ryan Haslam 302 10.9 -10.8
Liberal Democrats Garry Veevers 117 4.2 -6.1
Green Laura Diggle 65 2.4 -2.6
Majority 1,641 28.3
Turnout
Labour hold
Rumworth ward by-election 6 October 2016 [31][32]
(Triggered by the death of Cllr. Rosa Kay)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Shamim Abdullah 2,152 77.1 +4.9
UKIP Jonathan Baxendale 251 9.0 -1.0
Conservative Mohammed Waqas 167 6.0 -4.5
Green Alan Johnson 126 4.5 -0.5
Liberal Democrats Rebecca Forrest 96 3.4 +1.1
Majority 1,901 68.1
Turnout 28.4
Labour hold
Hulton ward by-election 18 January 2018 [33][34]
(Triggered by the death of Cllr. Darren Whitehead)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Toby Hewitt 1,455 49.4 +16.7
Labour Rabiya Jiva 1,179 40.1 +3.0
UKIP Beverley Fletcher 190 6.5 -18.0
Liberal Democrats Derek Gradwell 67 2.3 -0.2
Green James Tomkinson 52 1.8 -1.5
Majority 276
Turnout
Conservative gain from Labour
Farnworth ward by-election 8 March 2018 [35][36]
(Triggered by the resignation of Cllr. Asif Ibrahim)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Farnworth and Kearsley First Paul David Sanders 1,204 47.5 +47.5
Labour Rebecca Jane Minors 969 38.2 -10.5
UKIP Dave Harvey 169 6.7 -30.0
Conservative Matthew Thomas Littler 153 6.0 -2.0
Liberal Democrats David Andrew Walsh 23 0.9 -2.2
Green David Figgins 18 0.7 +0.7
Majority 235
Turnout 24.32
Farnworth and Kearsley First gain from Labour
Bromley Cross ward by-election 28 October 2021[37]
(Triggered by the death of Cllr. David Greenhalgh)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Amy Cowen 1,732 70.0 +7.5
Labour Emily Mort 409 16.5 +0.5
Green Liz Spencer 165 6.7 -0.5
Bolton for Change Laura Armstrong 99 4.0 +4.0
Liberal Democrats James Haslam 68 2.7 -3.2
Majority 1,323
Turnout 2,473
Conservative hold

References

  1. ^ a b "The Borough of Bolton (Electoral Changes) Order 2004", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2004/356, retrieved 30 August 2022
  2. ^ "Bolton". Local Government Boundary Commission. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Bolton Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Bolton". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
  6. ^ "Council minutes". Bolton Council. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  7. ^ Gee, Chris; George, Thomas (6 April 2021). "Tributes to former MP and council leader who was last surviving 'freeman' of Bolton". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  8. ^ Savage, Ian; Holland, Daniel (8 November 2017). "Bolton Council leader Cliff Morris to step down on December 31 after 11 years in charge". Bolton News. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  9. ^ George, Thomas; Topping, Stephen (29 July 2021). "Bolton Council leader David Greenhalgh dies". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Report No. 289: Bolton" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission For England. September 1978. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  11. ^ All seats in the 1980 election were contested due to boundary changes.
  12. ^ "Bolton council". BBC News Online. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  13. ^ All seats in the 2004 election were contested due to boundary changes.[12]
  14. ^ "By-election as council bars Donaghy". The Bolton News. 27 February 1997. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  15. ^ "Four fight for Daubhill seat". The Bolton News. 8 April 1997. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  16. ^ "Labour easily holds Daubhill". The Bolton News. 11 April 1997. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  17. ^ "Tories bid for council upset". The Bolton News. 29 October 2002. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  18. ^ "Votes cast in key by-election". The Bolton News. 21 November 2002. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  19. ^ "Labour scramble home". The Bolton News. 22 November 2002. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  20. ^ Tidman, Gareth (14 May 2006). "Uncertainty at town hall as councillor quits". The Bolton News. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  21. ^ "Go-ahead for election". The Bolton News. 27 May 2006. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  22. ^ Youssef, Anna (14 July 2006). "Labour scoop by-election win". The Bolton News. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  23. ^ "Former deputy council leader Guy Harkin to stand in by-election". The Bolton News. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
  24. ^ Greaves, Andrew (2 October 2009). "VIDEO: Labour secure vital by-election win in Bolton". The Bolton News. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
  25. ^ O'Flynn, Elaine (20 December 2013). "UPDATE: Labour storm to victory in Harper Green by-election". The Bolton News. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  26. ^ "Asha scores double first in Labour romp". The Bolton News. 21 December 2013. p. 4.
  27. ^ Thorp, Liam (24 September 2014). "Six-way battle for vacant council seat in Harper Green by-election". The Bolton News. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  28. ^ O'Flynn, Elaine (17 October 2014). "UPDATE: Labour win Harper Green by-election". The Bolton News. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  29. ^ Thorp, Liam (21 January 2016). "REVEALED: The 5 candidates looking for your votes in Crompton ward by-election". The Bolton News. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  30. ^ Thorp, Liam (12 February 2016). "Labour storm to victory in Crompton by-election". The Bolton News. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  31. ^ Thorp, Liam (15 September 2016). "Five candidates will contest next month's Bolton Council by-election in Rumworth ward". The Bolton News. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  32. ^ Thorp, Liam (7 October 2016). "Labour storm to victory in Rumworth by-election". The Bolton News. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  33. ^ McIntre, Alex (18 January 2018). "Voters set to decide Hulton ward by-election". The Bolton News. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  34. ^ Naynor, mary (19 January 2018). "Conservatives take Hulton ward seat in narrow by-election win". The Bolton News. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  35. ^ Holland, Daniel (3 February 2018). "By-elections called in Farnworth and Westhoughton". The Bolton News. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  36. ^ Naylor, Mary (9 March 2018). "Farnworth and Kearsley First victory is a 'political earthquake'". The Bolton News. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  37. ^ "Local Elections Archive Project — Bromley Cross Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2022.

External links

Council elections in Greater Manchester
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