Local election 2022 results for North West and North Wales
A roundup of political wins and losses in the region from 5 May’s local elections, including the leader of Oldham Council losing her seat and a huge win for Labour in Cumbria.
This story will be updated with results as they come in.
Cumbria
Cumberland Council
This new council will replace Allerdale, Copeland, Carlisle and the county councils on 1 April 2023. Labour took an overall majority of the new authority, claiming 30 seats. Based on the area’s old council makeup, the election results were the equivalent of Labour winning 12 seats and Conservatives losing 14. Liberal Democrats and Greens picked up two seats each. The makeup of Cumberland Council is 30 Labour, seven Conservative, four Liberal Democrat, three independent and two Green.
Westmorland and Furness Council
This new council will replace Barrow-in-Furness, Eden and South Lakeland councils. Liberal Democrats will control the council after securing 36 seats. When compared to the makeups of the old councils, this represented a gain of 13 seats for the party. Conservatives lost 16 seats, while Labour gained three. The makeup of Westmorland and Furness Council is 36 Liberal Democrat, 15 Labour, 11 Conservative, two independent and one Green.
Greater Manchester
Bolton
There is still no party majority at Bolton Council, with Conservatives only gaining one seat from independents. Still, the Conservatives maintain their position as the largest party in the council. The new council makeup is 23 Conservative, 19 Labour, 13 independent and five Liberal Democrat.
Bury
Labour maintained control of Bury Council, gaining one seat. Conservatives and Liberal Democrats both lost seats, four and three respectively. Independents acquired six seats. The new council makeup is 29 Labour, 12 Conservative, nine independent and one Liberal Democrat.
Manchester
Labour retained control of Manchester, only losing one seat to the Greens. The new council makeup is 92 Labour, two Green and two Liberal Democrat.
Oldham
Labour maintained control, but leader Arooj Shah lost her seat in Chadderton South to the Conservatives by 96 votes. This is the second year in a row that the leader of the council has lost an election, with Sean Fielding losing his seat last year. Overall, Labour lost five seats, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats each picked up one, while independents (including the Failsworth Independent Party) gained three. The new council makeup is 35 Labour, nine Conservative, nine Liberal Democrat, five Failsworth Independent Party and two independent.
Rochdale
Labour maintained control in Rochdale, despite losing six seats. Of those seats, five were picked up by independents while Conservatives claimed one. The new council makeup is 42 Labour, 10 Conservative, five independent and three Liberal Democrat.
Salford
Labour lost three seats but maintained control of the council. Those seats were picked up by Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and independents. The new council makeup is 49 Labour, eight Conservative, two Liberal Democrat and one independent.
Stockport
Liberal Democrats took up two seats and the Greens grabbed one to the detriment of the Conservatives, who were down three seats. There is still no majority in the council, which means Labour Cllr Elise Wilson’s position as leader could be in jeopardy. The new council makeup is 28 Liberal Democrat, 25 Labour, five Conservative, three independent and two Green.
Tameside
Labour retained control of the council but lost two seats to the Conservatives. The new council makeup is 48 Labour, eight Conservative and one Green.
Trafford
Labour maintained control of Trafford Council, gaining one seat from the Conservatives who lost three others – two to Liberal Democrats and one to Greens. Perhaps the biggest loss for the Conservatives in Trafford was the seat of Nathan Evans in Timperley, who was defeated by Liberal Democrat Will Frass. The new council makeup is 41 Labour, 13 Conservative, five Liberal Democrat and four Green.
Wigan
Labour picked up three seats, while Conservatives lost one and independents lost the other two. The new council makeup is 61 Labour, seven Conservative and seven independent.
Lancashire
Blackburn with Darwen
Labour maintained control of the council after the election, where no party had an increase or decrease in seats. The new council makeup is 36 Labour, 13 Conservative, one Liberal Democrat and one independent.
Burnley
There continues to be no majority party in Burnley. Most parties retained their number of seats, with the exception of the Greens picking up a seat from the UK Independence Party. The new council makeup is 18 Labour, eight Liberal Democrat, eight Conservative, six Green and five indepedent.
Chorley
Labour had a successful day at the polls in Chorley, taking three seats of Conservative councillors to tighten the party’s grip on the authority. Labour now holds 32 of Chorley Council’s 42 seats. The remaining 10 belong to the Conservatives.
Hyndburn
There is no majority party in Hyndburn. Labour lost two seats, which were gained by the Conservatives. The new council makeup is 17 Labour, 14 Conservative and three independent. There is one vacancy – the seat that former Overton Labour Cllr Michael Hindley held. Hindley resigned on 20 April. His seat will be decided in a by-election later this year.
Pendle
Conservatives have maintained their majority in Pendle, despite losing two seats to the Liberal Democrats. The new council makeup is 17 Conservative, 11 Labour and five Liberal Democrat.
Preston
There was no change in Preston, where Labour still holds 30 of the authority’s 48 seats after yesterday’s votes. Conservatives have 11 seats and the Liberal Democrats have seven.
Rossendale
Labour has claimed a majority in Rossendale, securing two additional seats from the Conservatives. Independents claimed an additional seat from the Conservatives. The new council makeup is 19 Labour, 11 Conservative, five indepedent and one Green.
West Lancashire
There continues to be no party majority in West Lancashire, which saw no changes in seat numbers for the parties. The council makeup continues to be 25 Labour, 20 Conservative and nine independent.
Liverpool City Region
Halton
Labour also still holds a strong majority in Halton where the only change saw the Greens lose a seat to the Conservatives in the hotly contested ward of Daresbury, Moore and Sandymoor. Labour’s Anna Hutchinson and Conservative Sian Davidson both received 398 votes and the latter came away victorious after her name was drawn from an envelope. The new council makeup is 48 Labour, three Conservative and three Liberal Democrat.
Knowsley
Labour lost two seats in Knowsley, which were gained by independents and the Greens. Labour still maintains a vast majority in Knowsley, holding 32 seats. The remaining 13 are spread out between Greens (five seats), independents (five), and Liberal Democrats (three).
Sefton
There was better news for Labour in Sefton where the party won the seat previously held by the borough’s deputy Conservative leader Denise Dutton. Carol Richards takes over in Harrington as Labour increased its majority. The party holds 48 of Sefton’s 66 seats. Liberal Democrats have eight seats, Conservatives have seven and independents have three.
St Helens
Labour retained control of the council despite losing seven seats – four of which went to independents, the other three went to the Greens. The new council makeup is 29 Labour, seven independent, six Green, four Liberal Democrat and two Conservative.
Wirral
There is no party majority in Wirral. Labour lost three seats in Wirral, one to the Conservatives and two to the Green Party. Labour now has 26 seats on the council with the Conservatives on 24. The Greens have nine seats. Liberal Democrats have six and independents have one.
North Wales
Anglesey
Plaid Cymru has gained control of Anglesey, earning five seats from independents. Labour gained a seat. The new council makeup is 21 Plaid Cymru, 10 independent, three Labour and one Liberal Democrat.
Conwy
There continues to be no majority party in Conwy, where both Labour and independents gained four seats to the detriment of the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru. Conservatives lost six seats and Plaid Cymru lost three. The Greens picked up one seat in the council. The new council makeup is 22 independent, 11 Labour, 10 Conservative, seven Plaid Cymru, four Liberal Democrat and one Green.
Denbighshire
There is no party majority in Denbighshire, where Conservatives lost nine seats. Labour picked up three, the Greens grabbed two and independents claimed four. The new council makeup is 19 Labour, 12 independent, eight Plaid Cymru, six Conservative, two Green and one Liberal Democrat.
Flintshire
There continues to be no party majority in Flintshire, where independents gained eight seats to the detriment of the Conservatives, who lost five, and Labour, who lost two. Liberal Democrats also lost a seat. The new council makeup is 31 Labour, 30 independent, four Liberal Democrat and two Conservative.
Gwynedd
Plaid Cymru maintained control of Gwynedd Council, gaining four seats. Labour lost one seat, while independents lost three. The new council makeup is 44 Plaid Cymru, 23 independent, one Labour and one Liberal Democrat.
Wrexham
There is no majority party in Wrexham, where all seats were up for election. In total, nine seats changed hands. Plaid Cymru made the most gains, with six new seats, while Labour added three seats to its count. Conservatives lost three seats and Liberal Democrats lost one. Independents lost five, however, still held the most seats. The new council makeup is 23 independent, 14 Labour, nine Conservative, nine Plaid Cymru and one Liberal Democrat.
If the Tories chuck some money at Wirral to encourage jobs and investment then they could pinch a seat or two at the general election, there is some big development on site and pending around Birkenhead and this could be the springboard for better times ahead.
By Anonymous
if the Tories published the amounts of money it donates to North Western boroughs, in some cases via Devolved Regions, in addition to the basic Council Tax supplements, then it would stand a much better chance of gaining votes. EG Levelling Up, Roads, City Support etc
By Anonymous