Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council elections are generally held three years out of every four, with a third of the council being elected each time. Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council, generally known as Rochdale Borough Council, is the local authority for the metropolitan borough of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England. Since the last boundary changes in 2022, 60 councillors have been elected from 20 wards.[1]

Political control

From 1889 to 1974 Rochdale was a county borough, independent of any county council.[2] 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 Rochdale became a unitary authority. Political control of the council since 1973 has been held by the following parties:[3][4]

Party in control Years
Labour 1973–1975
No overall control 1975–1976
Conservative 1976–1979
No overall control 1979–1980
Labour 1980–1982
No overall control 1982–1986
Labour 1986–1992
No overall control 1992–1996
Labour 1996–2003
No overall control 2003–2007
Liberal Democrats 2007–2010
No overall control 2010–2011
Labour 2011–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2006 have been:[5]

Councillor Party From To
Alan Taylor[6] Liberal Democrats 2006 13 Jan 2010
Irene Davidson[7] Liberal Democrats 13 Jan 2010 24 Nov 2010
Colin Lambert Labour 15 Dec 2010 4 Jun 2014
Richard Farnell[8][9] Labour 4 Jun 2014 8 Dec 2017
Allen Brett Labour 13 Dec 2017 19 May 2021
Neil Emmott Labour 19 May 2021

Council elections

  1. ^ Whole council elected after boundary changes[10]
  2. ^ New ward boundaries[1]

Borough result maps

By-election results

1993-1997

Littleborough By-Election 11 July 1996
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats 2,015 56.6
Labour 1,109 31.7
Conservative 413 11.6
Independent 22 0.6
Majority 906 24.9
Turnout 3,559
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

1997-2001

Milnrow By-Election 10 June 1999
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats 1,347 52.2 +18.7
Labour 716 27.8 -3.2
Conservative 432 16.8 -5.6
Independent 84 3.3 +3.3
Majority 631 24.4
Turnout 2,579 29.0
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

2005-2010

Middleton North By-Election 29 November 2007[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jonathan Burns 603 41.6 -9.8
Liberal Democrats Rhoda Morley 566 39.1 +21.3
Conservative David Harris 280 19.3 -11.5
Majority 37 2.5
Turnout 1,449 18.2
Labour hold Swing

2010-2015

Norden Ward By-Election, 25th April 2013[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Anthony Joseph William Bennett 627 29.7% +3.0%
Liberal Democrats Patricia Ann Colclough 246 11.7% -4.4%
National Front Peter Greenwood[13] 156 7.4% +7.4%
Conservative Peter Nicholas Winkler 1,081 51.2% -6.0%
Majority 460 21.8% -8.7%
Turnout 2,110 27.1% -12.9%

References

  1. ^ a b "The Rochdale (Electoral Changes) Order 2021", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2021/1230, retrieved 31 August 2022
  2. ^ "Rochdale Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Rochdale". BBC News Online. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  5. ^ "Council minutes". Rochdale Borough Council. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  6. ^ "Obituary: Former council leader Alan Taylor has died". Rochdale Online. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Rochdale Council leader resigns following defections". BBC News. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  8. ^ Wilkinson, Damon (20 August 2021). "Richard Farnell, former two-time Labour leader of Rochdale council, has died". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Rochdale Council leader resigns over child abuse fallout". BBC News. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council". BBC News Online. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  11. ^ "Labour hold on in by-election". Middleton Guardian. 30 November 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  12. ^ http://www.rochdale.gov.uk/the_council/elections/election_-_norden_ward.aspx[dead link]
  13. ^ "Newdawnparty.uk".

External links

Council elections in Greater Manchester
Metropolitan districts of England
Categories