Reform make major gains across Lancashire, with Labour losing control of three councils

Reform UK has made large gains across Lancashire, with Labour losing control of three councils.

In Blackburn with Darwen, Labour lost the majority it has held for 15 years, with Reform picking up nine of the 11 seats it lost. In Hyndburn and Preston, the previously Labour-led authorities, are also now under no overall control.

Reform won 11 out of the 15 seats polled in Burnley. The authority remains no overall control in the town, but Reform is now the largest party.

Chorley's veteran Labour councillor and former mayor Steve Holgate lost his seat to Reform, with Labour losing eight seats in the town and Reform gaining seven, but Labour maintained majority control of Chorley Council.

In Burnley, Reform UK won 11 of the 15 seats up for grabs.

Independent candidates and a single Liberal Democrat picked up the other four available seats, with Labour losing seven councillors.

It leaves Burnley Council still under no overall control, but with Reform now the largest party.

Meanwhile in Blackburn with Darwen, Labour has lost the majority it held for 15 years, with the authority now no overall control.

It lost 11 seats, with Reform UK picking up nine.

Independents also gained six seats, while the Conservatives lost four seats.

In Hyndburn, Reform gained eight seats as Labour lost five and the Conservatives lost four.

Previously Labour-led, the authority is now under no overall control.

In Preston, the Labour Party has lost control of the city council, which is now under no overall control.

The party lost six of the 10 seats it was contesting, and has a new total of 22, while the Lib Dems have 14, a gain of two.

Reform UK, which did not hold any seats prior to the polls opening, picked up five seats, while the Conservatives lost half of their six seats, losing all three that were up for election this year.

In Pendle, the authority has remained under no overall control - with Reform and the Independents making the biggest gains, winning four seats each.

The Lib Dems and the Conservatives both held on to a single seat.

The Independents now hold 13 seats, making them the biggest group in the authority - a title that was previously held by the Conservatives.

In Chorley, Reform praised the result in the town on X, saying it had won seven of the 14 seats up for election in the hometown of former Labour MP and current Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle, and came a "credible second in the other seven".

It said: "Congratulations to our new councillors. Reform is now the official opposition party in Chorley."

It was also a significant night for the Greens whose candidate Olga Cash took the party's first seat on the council in the ward of Chorley South West.

Cash said the Green Party had been rewarded for focusing its campaign efforts on the ward.

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," she added.

Despite Reform's successes, the Labour leader of Chorley Council, Alistair Bradley, said his party could be pleased with the result as it was still the majority party, with 29 seats.

"It was a tough night but we held on to five of our seats and we still control the council," he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

He added: "Whilst we lost some excellent councillors we held our own when you look at the bigger picture."

Turnout was unusually high in Chorley – by local election standards – in some parts of the borough, with eight seats seeing between 40 and 48% of residents make the effort to vote.

Average turnout across the 14 wards was 40.1%.

In West Lancashire, the council remains no overall control but Labour lost nine seats.

Seven of them went to Reform, with the independents also doing well.

Additional reporting by theLocal Demoracy Reporting Service.

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