Chorley: Election reaction and full results

Reform UK has surged to become the official opposition on Chorley Council after winning half of the seats that were contested at the local elections.

The ruling Labour group retained overall control of the authority, because only a third of the total number of places at the town hall were up for grabs in Thursday’s vote.

That meant it was mathematically impossible for the party – which has run the borough since 2012 – to lose its grip on power, as it held 37 out of the overall 42 seats going into the polls.

However, of the 14 that were up for election, Reform won seven, while Labour held onto five of the 13 it was defending from the last time this tranche of seats was elected back in 2022.

The Green Party secured its first ever councillor in the borough, while the Tories – previously the main opposition group – were pushed to third place on the authority, in spite of managing to hold onto the one seat they were trying to retain, that of group leader Alan Platt.

Cllr Martin Topp, who has spent the last year as Chorley Council’s only Reform UK member – after winning a by-election in 2025 – said being part of a larger group would help bring what he claimed was much-needed scrutiny to the authority.

“It’s really about ensuring that what [is] happening is all legit and above board.

“I’ve been able to identify this year, as a lone councillor, some of the shortcomings and underhand tactics that they are using [regarding] spending and HMOs [houses of multiple occupation],” Cllr Topp said.

Labour council leader Alistair Bradley said he welcomed challenge, but that it had to come with a purpose.

“Scrutiny is good, but what we don’t want to see is what Reform have done at Lancashire County Council, which is come in and really do nothing – not really have any new ideas.

“Tell us what you want to do – [and] make them positive ideas, don’t just criticise everything everybody else is doing.  In Chorley we try to do consensual politics – and everybody’s views are taken on board,” Cllr Bradley said.

Reflecting on the reasons for a bruising night for Labour in the borough, he pointed towards central government – although he did not identify a deficiency in policy, but rather presentation.

“Labour’s doing some great stuff – waiting lists are coming down, [there are] better standards in schools, [improved] renters’ rights – but it’s been buried by a lot of nonsense about leaderships and distractions around the Westminster bubble,” the veteran politician said.

He paid tribute to “hardworking” Labour councillors who had lost their seats – which he said was “no reflection of them”.  One of the most high-profile Labour departures was the outgoing borough mayor for the last year, Cllr Alistair Morwood, who had previously been the planning cabinet member on the authority and had served as a councillor since 2014.

Meanwhile, Olga Cash – elected as Chorley’s first Green councillor – said the group had been rewarded for its strategy of focussing its campaign efforts on the ward where she was elected, Chorley South West.

She said she was used to being “the Green in the room – the person that puts people first and sustainability to the forefront”.

“Also, given what’s happening right now, I think learning to collaborate and learning to be bigger than the divisions that are happening at the moment is really important,” Cllr Cash added.

Cllr Platt said he wanted to thank those voters who had enabled him to remain as Chorley group leader by helping him retain his Croston, Mawdsley and Euxton South seat.

Another member of the expanded Reform crop at the town hall, Jonathan Close, said the party had laid on plenty of training, prior to the election, for relative political novices like himself – so that they were ready to hit the ground running should they win their seats.

He says he is hoping to focus on “local issues” and also to provide the strength in numbers that he says Cllr Topp has had to cope without over the last 12 months.

“[The council] have very much sidelined him, unfortunately – [whereas], now, we’ll hopefully get a few roles on some of the committees,” Cllr Close added.

Turnout was unusually high – by local election standards – in some parts of the borough, with eight seats seeing between 40 and 48 percent of residents makwe the effort to vote.   Average turnout across the 14 wards was 40.1 percent.

FINAL RESULTS TOTAL:

The final results tally across the 14 seats that were being contested at Thursday’s polls:

Conservatives: 1 (no change)

Green Party: 1 (+1)

Labour: 5 (-8)

Reform UK: 7 (+7)

Note: figure in brackets shows losses and gains from when this tranche of seats was last fought in 2022.

NEW COMPOSITION OF THE COUNCIL

Labour: 30

Reform UK: 7

Conservatives: 4

Green Party: 1

WARD-BY-WARD RESULTS

Key

Victor in bold

* denotes incumbent councillor in that ward

Adlington and Anderton

LAB HOLD

NEIL BAGLOW – Conservative Party – 280

AMY HARDCASTLE – Green Party – 257

JUNE MOLYNEAUX* – Labour and Co-operative Party – 1,266

GRAHAM THORNTON – Reform UK – 928

Buckshaw and Whittle

LAB HOLD

DEDRAH MOSS* – Labour Party – 824

RACHEL SMITH – Green Party – 375

CRAIG TOMMONY – Reform UK – 781

CHRISTINE TURNER – Conservative Party – 589

Chorley East

REFORM GAIN FROM LAB

IAN CARDWELL – Labour Party – 677

MARK GRANDI – Conservative Party – 171

LOUISE HALL – Green Party – 296

CAROLE SASAKI -Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition – 37

MARTIN TOPP* – Reform UK – 778

Chorley North and Astley

REFORM GAIN FROM LAB

JEFFREY GREEN – Conservative Party – 327

ALISTAIR MORWOOD* – Labour Party – 820

MARK PERKS – Reform UK – 944

JON ROYLE – Green Party – 310

Chorley North East

LAB HOLD

DAVID GOLDEN – Liberal Democrats – 64

PAUL HAZZARD – Reform UK – 768

WENDY PATERSON – Conservative Party – 350

MARK TEBBUTT – Green Party – 214

JEN WHIFFEN* – Labour Party – 1,470

Chorley North West

LAB HOLD

ANNE CALDERBANK – Green Party – 375

SHAZ MALIK – Reform UK – 727

PETER MALPAS – Conservative Party – 403

EMMA WALKER – Labour and Co-operative Party – 1,093

Chorley South East and Heath Charnock

REFORM GAIN FROM LAB

MARK HILL – Reform UK – 1,196

DIANA KHAN – Conservative Party – 301

SAMIR KHAN* – Labour Party – 939

JANE WESTON – Green Party – 365

Chorley South West

GREEN GAIN FROM LAB

OLGA CASH – Green Party – 866

TERRY HOWARTH* – Labour Party – 423

DOROTHY LIVESEY – Conservative Party – 120

BARRY YOUNG – Reform UK – 774

Clayton East, Brindle and Hoghton

REFORM GAIN FROM LAB

MICHELLE BEACH* – Labour Party – 717

ELLIE CLOSE – Reform UK – 1.017

AMY COXLEY – Green Party – 263

STEPHEN FENN – Liberal Democrats – 149

GEOFF FIELDEN – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition – 17

GREG MORGAN – Conservative Party – 400

Clayton West and Cuerden

REFORM GAIN FROM LAB

SIMON CASH – Green Party – 233

SAM CHAPMAN – Conservative Party – 477

LESLEY DUROSE – Reform UK – 1,153

ALEXANDRA SIMPSON – Liberal Democrats – 115

NEVILLE WHITHAM* – Labour Party – 989

Coppull

REFORM GAIN FROM LAB

DEBBIE BROTHERTON – Green Party – 421

MARK ROBERT FROST – Liberal Democrats – 71

HAROLD HEATON – Conservative Party – 162

STEVE HOLGATE – Labour Party – 520

JOE MCCARTNEY – Reform UK – 1,057

Croston, Mawdesley and Euxton South

CON HOLD

JOSH COLLINS – Green Party – 264

BARRIE DUCKWORTH – Independent – 21

ALAN PLATT* – Local Conservatives – 1,207

CAROLINE TURNER – Labour and Co-operative Party – 462

MARK WADE – Reform UK – 997

JOHN WRIGHT – Lib Dem – 127

Eccleston, Heskin and Charnock Richard

LAB HOLD

SEF CHURCHILL – Green Party 127

ETHAN HOWARTH – Local Conservatives – 558

FRED LAITHWAITE – Reform UK – 950

ROWAN POWER – Liberal Democrats – 86

ARUN SINGH – Labour Party – 997

Euxton

REFORM GAIN FROM LAB

JONATHAN CLOSE – Reform UK – 978

GILLIAN SHARPLES – Labour Party – 906

AULINE SUMMERS – Green Party – 296

GEOFF TURNER – Conservative Party – 469