The 2011 Pendle Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of

Pendle Pendle may refer to: * Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England ** Pendle (UK Parliament constituency) * Pendle Hill in Lancashire, England ** Forest of Pendle, hilly landscape surrounding the hill * Pendle College of the University of Lancaster * ...

Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Council in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control. After the election, the composition of the council was *

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

18 *

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

16 * Liberal Democrats 12 *

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...

2 *

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Background

Before the election there were 17

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

, 16 Liberal Democrats, 13

, 2

and 1

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s. At the last election in 2010 the Liberal Democrats lost the leadership of the council and an agreement between the Conservative and Labour parties took control of the council, with Conservative Mike Blomeley becoming leader of the council, after attempts at forming an all party

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

failed. However Labour withdrew from the agreement with the Conservatives in February 2011. 17 seats were contested at the election, with 6 sitting councillors standing down, Martin Bell from Craven

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

, Carol Belshaw from

Foulridge Foulridge (pronounced ) is a village and civil parish in Pendle, Lancashire, close to the border with North Yorkshire in England. It is situated just beyond Colne, on the route from the M65 to Skipton, and is an important stopping point on summ ...

ward, Gary Bird from Clover Hill ward, Allan Buck from Coates ward, Sonia Robinson from Southfield ward and Violet Vaughan from Boulsworth ward.

Election result

After having run the council until the 2010 election, the Liberal Democrats fell to third on the council with 12 seats, behind the Conservatives on 18 seats and Labour on 16 seats. The Liberal Democrats lost 4 seats, Craven and Vivary Bridge to the Conservatives, and Clover Hill and Southfield to Labour, with the Liberal Democrat leader on the council John David holding his seat in

Old Laund Booth Old Laund Booth is a civil parish in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England. It has a population of 1,459, and contains the villages of Fence and Wheatley Lane. Old Laund Booth was once a township in the ancient parish of Whalley. This bec ...

by only 10 votes. Labour picked up 3 seats, taking Reedley from the Conservatives, in addition to the party's 2 gains from the Liberal Democrats, while the Conservatives ended up with 1 extra seat on the council. Overall turnout at the election was 43.7%. Following the election, Conservative Mike Blomeley remained as leader of the council with an all Conservative cabinet, meanwhile Liberal Democrat Nadeem Ahmed became the youngest

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Pendle at the age of 32.

Ward results

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 2011

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2010s in Lancashire