Burnley Council: Meeting next week to determine leadership after Reform victory in local elections
A crucial meeting will take place next week to decide who will have overall control of Burnley Council.
The full council meeting will take place on Wednesday (May 20) to determine who the leader will be moving forward.
At the moment the council continues to be led by an Independent administration, with Coun. Afrasiab Anwar as leader.
Also the leader of the Burnley Independent Group, Coun. Anwar held on to his seat in the Bank Hall ward at last Thursday’s local elections with a comfortable win of 906 votes, ahead of the Reform candidate Trevor Williams, who garnered 500 votes.
But the Reform Party swept the board on the day, securing 11 of the 15 seats up for grabs. The council comprises of 45 seats across 15 wards.
Last week’s results means that Reform has 12 seats on Burnley Council, the most of any party. The make-up of the rest of the council is: Independent/Other (10 seats) Labour Party: (10 seats) Liberal Democrats (six seats) Conservative (four seats) Green Party (three seats)
Speaking after his win Coun. Anwar said that while he held his position as council leader for now he hoped that if changes were made all political parties would be able to work together.
A number of long standing councillors were ousted in last week’s vote, reflecting the national trend that has seen Reform win one in three seats across the country.
Conservative councillor Jamie Mc Gowan, who is also the leader of the Conservative group, lost his seat in Hapton with Park to Reform candidate Steve Keogh. The deputy leader of the Labour group, Sue Graham, was defeated in the Lanehead ward, to Reform candidate James Halstead and Alun Lewis, who was defending his seat in the Gawthorpe ward, also lost out to Reform, to candidate Victoria Taylor.