Burnley Borough Council provides district-level services for the Borough of Burnley, in Lancashire, in North West England. County-level services are provided by Lancashire County Council. Much of the borough is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

History The town of Burnley had been incorporated as a municipal borough in 1861. The larger modern borough and its council were created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972.

Political control The council has been under no overall control since 2019.

Following the 2023 election, Labour ran a minority administration in Burnley council, having 21 seats, leaving them two seats short of an overall majority. On 5 November 2023, council leader Afrasiab Anwar and ten Labour colleagues resigned from the Labour Party in protest at Keir Starmer's refusal to demand a ceasefire in the Gaza war. This group was subsequently known as the Burnley Independent Group. On 17 November, the council was taken over by the new "Co-operative Alliance", which comprised the Burnley Independent Group, Green Party, and Liberal Democrat councillors and had enough seats to hold an overall majority on Burnley Council.

Following the 2024 election, the coalition fell one short of a majority, with only 22 councillors. Despite this, the Alliance members agreed to continue their arrangement and continue running the council, relying on the independent mayor to use his casting vote in their favour in case of a drawn vote with Labour and the Conservatives. The coalition lost further seats at the 2026 election, but continued to be able to form a minority administration.

The first election to the reformed borough council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: (Put "Burnley" in search box to see specific results.)

PartyPeriod 1974–2000 2000–2001 2001–2004 2004–2008 2008–2011 2011–2012 2012–2019 2019–present

Leadership The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Burnley. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1980 have been:

Councillor Party From To John Entwistle May 1980 Peter Pike May 1980 May 1983 Ken McGeorge 1983 1987 Jesse Bradshaw 1987 May 1989 Ken McGeorge May 1989 May 1994 Kath Reade May 1994 May 1998Stuart Caddy May 1998 25 Aug 2004 29 Sep 2004 May 2006 Gordon Birtwistle May 2006 2010 Charlie Briggs 2010 2012 Julie Cooper 2012 2014 Mark Townsend 201415 May 2019 Charlie Briggs 29 May 2019 18 Sep 2020 Mark Townsend 30 Sep 2020 May 2021Afrasiab Anwar 19 May 2021 5 Nov 2023 5 Nov 2023

Composition Following the May 2026 election and a subsequent change of allegiance later in May 2026, composition of the council was:

The independent councillors sit together as the 'Burnley Independent Group', which forms part of the council's administration with the Liberal Democrats and Greens. The next elections are due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2002 the council has comprised 45 councillors representing 15 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four year term of office. Lancashire County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections.

The wards are:

The district is represented on Lancashire County Council in six divisions: Burnley Central East, Burnley Central West, Burnley North East, Burnley South West, Burnley Rural and Padiham & Burnley West.

The boundaries of the Burnley Parliamentary constituency are the same as those of the borough.

Premises The council is based at Burnley Town Hall on Manchester Road, which had been completed in 1888 for the old town council. The council has additional offices nearby at the old Burnley Building Society building on Parker Lane.

References