Pendle Council local elections 2026 candidates list in full

For the first time, Green Party and Reform UK candidates are contesting every borough ward up for grabs, while Labour and the Conservatives are competing in every ward too. A number of independents are also standing.

Labour has found new candidates after all its previous borough councillors resigned from the party and became independents over the winter of 2023-24. Their reasons included disagreement with Labour’s national leadership over the Israel-Gaza conflict and disciplinary investigations of local councillors.

Now, a number of independent candidates are standing this May across the Nelson and Brierfield areas. However, there are no Your Party or Workers Party candidates anywhere in Pendle. Those two parties have been associated with Middle East issues too and high-profile Westminster politicians including Jeremy Corbyn, Zarah Sultana and George Galloway. However, they are standing candidates in some other council elections in the North-West.

In Pendle, one councillor will be elected from each ward. But there are no elections in Fence & Higham and Brierfield West & Reedley this year. The most-contested ward is Whitefield & Walverden with seven candidates including two independents.

Pendle Council is currently controlled by a shared Lib-Dem and Independent administration. There are currently 33 councillors, of which 10 are Independents, nine are Lib-Dems, two are Pendle True Independents, 11 are Conservatives and one is a Reform UK councillor.

All polling stations will be open on May 7 from 7am to 10pm. Residents have until midnight on Monday, April 20 to make sure they are on the electoral register and entitled to vote. The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on Tuesday, April 21. Voters will need to take ID to polling stations to vote. More information about voting is available from the council.

The Pendle Council candidates are:

Barnoldswick

Chris Church (LIB-DEM)

Euan Robert Clouston (LAB)

Sean Robertson (REFORM)

Julie Sutcliffe (CON)

Richard Whiteley (GREEN)

Barrowford & Pendleside

Anthony William Chamberlain (LIB-DEM)

Elektra Ellis (GREEN))

Susan Frances Nike (LAB)

Vanessa Robinson (REFORM)

Martyn Warren Stone (CON)

Boulsworth & Foulridge

Patricia Josephine Hannah-Wood (LIB-DEM)

Alexander Jack Hustwit (CON)

David Philip Johns (LAB)

Lyndsey Taylor (GREEN)

Alan Mark Whitehead (REFORM)

Bradley

Mohammad Ammar (INDEPENDENT)

Ryan Thomas Andrew Brown (GREEN)

Drew Dixon (REFORM)

Muhammed Huzaifa (LAB)

Nigel Pearson-Asher (CON)

Howard Philip Thomas (LIB-DEM)

Brierfield East & Clover Hill

Sajjad Ahmed (INDEPENDENT)

Benjamin Harrop (GREEN)

Pauline Anne McCormick (CON)

John Metcalfe (REFORM)

Mary Elizabeth Thomas (LIB-DEM)

Adam Thomas Walsh (LAB)

Earby & Coates

David Andrew Hunter (LAB)

Jane Pratt (CON)

David Michael Baxter Whipp (LIB-DEM)

Glenn Robert Whittaker (REFORM)

Jane Veronica Bailes Wood (GREEN)

Marsden & Southfield

Riaz Ahmed Bashir (INDEPENDENT)

Philip Alfred Berry (LIB-DEM)

Claire Brightley (GREEN)

Gary Anthony Hood (REFORM)

Marie Mary Stone (CON)

Sheila Wicks (LAB)

Vivary Bridge

Andy Bell (LIB-DEM)

Karen Lesley Clark (CON)

Mark Andrew Porter (LAB)

Michael Howard Waddington (REFORM)

Kelly Whiteside (GREEN)

Waterside & Horsfield

Jon Reece Bailey (CON)

Philip Heyworth (LAB)

Alice Rosemary Mann (LIB-DEM)

Nathan Thomas McCollum (REFORM)

Jacky McGeoch (GREEN)

Whitefield & Walverden

Ajaz Ahmed Ditta (INDEPENDENT)

Sean Benjamin Eastwood (REFORM)

Manzar Iqbal (LAB)

Adrian Barry Mitchell (CON)

Mohammed Sakib (INDEPENDENT)

David Sparrow (LIB-DEM)

Gemma Tayor (GREEN)