Complete list of East Lancashire candidates standing in county council's 'last ever' local elections

The hopefuls looking to represent the sub-region at County Hall will be battling it out for 27 seats across 25 divisions – the county council equivalent of electoral wards – at the poll on 1st May.

The list of nominations shows that the Conservatives, Labour, the Green Party and Reform UK will be contesting all of the available seats.

The Liberal Democrats are fielding 14 candidates and the Workers Party of Great Britain and the UK Independence Party one each.

Ten independent candidates – individuals not affiliated to any political party – are also standing across nine divisions.

The present overall political make-up at County Hall – after taking into account changes of allegiance over the past four years – sees the ruling Conservative group with 46 seats, Labour on 26, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Reform UK holding two each, while there are five independents and one seat is currently vacant.

Several current county councillors are contesting seats either for a party other than that which they represented at the last vote in 2021, or as independents, having previously been part of a party.

A government-ordered shake-up means this is likely to be the final election to Lancashire County Council, 136 years after it was formed.

The authority – and the 14 other councils across Lancashire – are set to be scrapped and replaced with a handful of new ones. On the government’s current timetable, that process is expected to be completed before the point at which the county council would otherwise be due to hold another election in 2029.

The politicians at County Hall are responsible for a raft of services across all parts of Lancashire except Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen – including adults and children’s social care, schools, highways, public health, waste processing and libraries.

Mark Wynn, Lancashire County Council’s electoral returning officer and chief executive, said: “The elections in May are your chance to have your say about who will take decisions on the many vital services which the county council delivers over the next four years.

“If you are not yet registered to vote, or wish to apply for a postal vote, there is still time, but you need to act quickly as the deadline is fast approaching.”

WHAT WILL I NEED TO VOTE?

In order to vote in the Lancashire County Council elections, you must be on the electoral register.

If you have not voted for a while or have changed your name or address, you might not be registered to vote, but you can check by contacting your local district council (Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Ribble Valley or Rossendale).

You can register online or by obtaining a paper form and returning it to your district council’s electoral registration office. The deadline for registration for the county council elections is 11th April at 11.59pm.

For the first time at a Lancashire County Council election, you will also need to bring with you suitable photo ID if you are voting in person at a polling station – such as a driving licence, passport or a bus pass for older or disabled people.

If you do not have an accepted form of photo ID, you will need to obtain a voter authority certificate, which can be done online, or with help from the electoral registration office at the local council for your part of East Lancashire. The deadline for applying for a certificate is 5pm on 23rd April.

HOW DO I VOTE BY POST OR BY PROXY?

To register for a postal vote, you must apply by 5pm on 14th April – you can do so online or by obtaining a paper form from, and returning it to, your district council’s election registration office.

If you would like someone else to vote in person on your behalf, you can apply for a proxy vote. The deadline is 5pm on 23rd April.

CANDIDATE LISTS

Below is a district-by-district breakdown of all the East Lancashire candidates standing for election to Lancashire County Council on 1st May.

Two divisions – Great Harwood, Rishton and Clayton-le-Moors, and Pendle Rural – elect two county councillors, while all the others return just one.

BURNLEY

Burnley Central East

Simon John Bonney – Conservatives

Rayyan Fiass – Workers Party of Britain

Alex Hall – Green Party

Maheen Kamran – Independent

Javad Mokhammad – Independent

Gavin Theaker – Reform UK

Hannah Till – Labour

Burnley Central West

Frank Bartram – Liberal Democrats

Martyn Hurt – Green Party

Dylan Manning – Labour

Liam Thomson – Reform UK

Don Whitaker – Conservatives

Burnley North East

Usman Arif – Independent

Jim Halstead – Reform UK

Julie Ann Hurt – Green Party

Susan Nutter – Conservatives

Cheryl Louise Semple – Labour

Burnley Rural

Gordon Birtwistle – Liberal Democrats

Gemma Haigh – Labour

Jack Simon Launer – Green Party

Mark Poulton – Reform UK

Cosima Towneley – Conservatives

Burnley South West

Jane Curran – Green Party

Eddie Kutavicius – Reform UK

Neil Mottershead – Conservatives

Jeff Sumner – Liberal Democrats

Daniel Thomas Andrew Tierney – Labour

Padiham and Burnley West

Daniel Armitage – Labour

Janet Hall – Green Party

Alan Hosker – Conservatives

Thomas Pickup – Reform UK

Melissa Semmens – Independent

HYNDBURN

Accrington North

Shahed Mahmood – Conservatives

Clare Pritchard – Labour

Julie Carole Stubbins – Green Party

Joel Michael Tetlow – Reform UK

Accrington South

David James Heap – Conservatives

Graham Jones – Labour

Ashley Joynes – Reform UK

Charlie Derry Kerans – Green Party

Accrington West & Oswaldtwistle Central

Sohail Asghar – Green Party

Isaac John Cowans – Reform UK

Munsif Dad – Labour

Mohammed Younis – Conservatives

Great Harwood, Rishton and Clayton-le-Moors

Noordad Aziz – Labour

Wayne Fitzharris – Green Party

Jordan John Fox – Reform UK

Carole Anne Haythornthwaite – Conservatives

Andy Hunter-Rossall – Green Party

Zak Khan – Conservatives

Lance Miles Lee Parkinson – Reform UK

Kate Walsh – Labour

Oswaldtwistle

Peter Britcliffe – Conservatives

Gaynor Louise Hargreaves – Reform UK

Nancy Mills – Green Party

Caitlin Pritchard – Labour

PENDLE

Brierfield and Nelson West

Irfan Ayub – Conservatives

Karl Peter Barnsley – Labour

Scott Cunliffe – Green Party

Mohammed Iqbal – Independent

Susan Land – Liberal Democrats

Christine Stables – Reform UK

Nelson East

Azhar Ali – Independent

Mohammad Aslam – Conservatives

Les Beswick – UK Independence Party

Vanessa Maria Robinson – Reform UK

Nicki James Shepherd – Labour

Mary Elizabeth Thomas – Liberal Democrats

Rebecca Aimee Lanyon Willmott – Green Party

Pendle Central

Marion Ellen Atkinson – Reform UK

Andy Bell – Liberal Democrats

Benjamin Daniel Harrop – Green Party

Philip Heyworth – Labour

Ash Sutcliffe – Conservatives

Pendle Hill

Mark Benjamin Dawson – Labour

Howard Hartley – Conservatives

Annette Marti – Green Party

John Metcalfe – Reform UK

Brian Newman – Liberal Democrats

Pendle Rural

Euan Robert Clouston – Labour

Victoria Fletcher – Reform UK

Sylvia Joyce Godfrey – Green Party

Lynn Marie Hannon – Labour

David Hartley – Liberal Democrats

Nathan Thomas McCollum – Reform UK

Jane Pratt – Conservatives

Jenny Purcell – Conservatives

David Michael Baxter Whipp – Liberal Democrats

Jane Wood – Green Party

RIBBLE VALLEY

Clitheroe

Ian Frank Brown – Independent

Warren Goldsworthy – Reform UK

Sue Hind – Conservatives

Simon O’Rourke – Liberal Democrats

Anne E Peplow – Green Party

Mike Graveston – Labour

Longridge with Bowland

Ian Duxbury – Reform UK

Stuart Hirst – Conservatives

Peter Lawrence – Liberal Democrats

Adam McMeekin – Green Party

Kieren Spencer – Labour

Robert Walker – Independent

Ribble Valley North East

David Berryman – Conservatives

David Birtwhistle – Independent

Ged Mirfin – Reform UK

Malcolm Charles Peplow – Green Party

Stephen Mark Sutcliffe – Liberal Democrats

Mike Willcox – Labour

Ribble Valley South West

Steve Atkinson – Reform UK

John Russell Fletcher – Independent

Richard Ian Charles Horton – Labour

Gaye Tomasine McCrum – Green Party

Mary Robinson – Liberal Democrats

Alan Schofield – Conservatives

ROSSENDALE

Mid Rossendale

Bob Bauld – Green Party

Clive Balchin – Reform UK

John Peter Greenwood – Conservatives

Sean Joseph Michael Serridge – Labour

Rossendale East

Mark Dexter Hillier – Liberal Democrats

Julie Adshead – Green Party

Jackie Oakes – Labour

Jenny Rigby – Conservatives

Mackenzie Lee Ritson – Reform UK

Rossendale South

Joanne Ash – Reform UK

Simon Holland – Conservatives

Liz Mcinnes – Labour

John Payne – Green Party

Rossendale West

Samara Barnes – Labour

Margaret Pendlebury – Conservatives

Jamie Warren Rippingale – Reform UK

Jacob Rorke – Green Party

Whitworth & Bacup

Vivienne Hall – Green Party

Michelle Christianne Smith – Labour

Daniel Robert Matchett – Reform UK

Scott Smith – Conservatives