Local elections: Blackburn Council leader calls for PM to quit

Blackburn with Darwen Council’s leader has called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to resign after the Labour Party lost control of the authority in Thursday’s local elections.

Cllr Phil Riley said: “We cannot go on like this.”

The result meant Labour was not in charge of the borough for the first time since it regained power in 2011, after four years of no overall control which included a Conservative‑led coalition administration from 2007 to 2010.

The election saw Labour lose a net seven seats, despite veteran former councillor Hussain Akhtar wresting Shear Brow and Corporation Park from 4BwD group Independent Suleman with a majority of 95 after two recounts.

Reform UK won nine seats, including all three wards in Darwen, in a surge replicated in Hyndburn and Burnley.

One third of council wards were up for grabs in all three boroughs, as well as in nearby Pendle.

Six Independents linked to 4BwD – whose councillors left Labour over the party’s stance on the Gaza conflict in 2023 – won seats the group did not previously hold, while the Conservatives lost three.

This leaves the balance of power on Blackburn with Darwen Council as Labour 20, 4BwD 16, Reform UK nine, Conservatives five, with former Tory councillor Tiger Patel sitting as a non‑aligned Independent.

The Green Party failed to take a single ward.

Talks have now begun over how the council will be run following Thursday’s dramatic results, with insiders predicting Labour and the 4BwD group will come to at least some form of understanding, if not a formal coalition.

In Hyndburn, Reform gained eight seats – five from the Conservatives, two from Labour and one from the Greens – meaning Labour retained its majority by a single seat with 18 councillors. The Conservatives and Reform both have eight, with one Independent.

In Burnley, Reform UK won 11 of the 15 seats up for grabs, bringing its total on the council up to 13.

The Liberal Democrats lost a seat despite former MP Gordon Birtwistle holding on, while Independents gained three. Labour, the Conservatives and the Green Party won none.

This leaves the council in no overall control, although the Independent/Green/Liberal Democrat coalition currently running it hopes to remain in charge as a minority administration.

The council now has 10 Burnley Independent Group councillors, 13 from Reform UK, 10 Labour, five Liberal Democrats, three Greens and four Conservatives.

In Pendle, Reform UK won four seats, including the council’s Liberal Democrat leader David Whipp’s Earby ward.

Independents gained one seat, the Conservatives lost three and the Liberal Democrats two, leaving the council in no overall control. Its new make‑up is Independents 13, Conservatives eight, Liberal Democrats seven and Reform UK five.

Big names to lose their seats in Blackburn with Darwen included Labour’s planning committee chairman Dave Smith in Darwen West, sitting Conservative mayor Jacquie Slater in Blackburn South and Lower Darwen, her daughter‑in‑law Julie Slater in West Pennine, and former Labour mayors Jim Shorrock and Parwaiz Akhtar in Blackburn South East and Bastwell and Daisyfield.

Council leader Cllr Riley said: “It’s a disaster.

“Keir Starmer should resign as Labour leader and Prime Minister.

“It is absolutely tragic that long‑standing Labour councillors who have given years of service to their party and communities are losing their seats all over the country and here in Blackburn with Darwen.

“Sir Keir is the leader and has to take responsibility.

“As a Labour Party, we cannot go on like this.

“We now have to look at how the council will be run. We cannot do that on our own.

“Negotiations have started, but there is no way we will work with Reform UK.

“As a high‑performing Labour council, we have been squeezed by the national agendas of the Greens and Reform UK, and the continuing pressure of the Gaza Independents.”

He refused to say which other group or groups – 4BwD or the Conservatives – Labour was in talks with.

4BwD group leader Cllr Mustafa Desai said: “I am absolutely delighted.

“It shows we continue to give constituents an alternative.

“We are committed to ensuring the council can continue to run, but we are keeping our options open.”

Reform UK’s Blackburn chairman Tommy Temperley – who failed to win Roe Lee ward, held by 4BwD’s Sajid Ali – said: “We are absolutely ecstatic. It’s a great result for Reform UK and the borough.”

Conservative group leader Cllr John Slater – who saw his mother Jacquie and sister‑in‑law Julie lose their seats – said: “I am obviously very sad. We have lost some really good councillors. I am concerned about the make‑up of the council in the two years leading up to reorganisation.”

Reform UK’s controversial candidate Andy Mahon – criticised over ‘offensive’ social media posts – won Blackburn South East, while John Black, expelled from the party over alleged BNP links, came fifth out of six in Little Harwood and Whitebirk.

Former Tory councillor Derek Hardman – dropped as a party candidate in the run‑up to Thursday’s poll – was unrepentant about Reform UK taking his former Livesey with Pleasington ward, saying: “The party got what it deserved. If I had been the candidate, I think we would have had a good chance of winning.”

Long‑serving 4BwD Independent councillor Elaine Whittingham lost Ewood – a seat previously held for many years by her mother Maureen Bateson – to Reform UK’s John Clayton.

The only sitting Labour councillor to retain his seat was Zamir Khan in Blackburn Central.

A jubilant Cllr Akhtar said: “I am the only Labour party gain today. I am delighted to be back. This is thanks to my community in Shear Brow and Corporation Park.”

There were no local elections in Ribble Valley or Rossendale boroughs, and in Pendle the entire Labour group quit the party over Gaza.