Date set to elect new council leader as Labour look set to take over in Bolton

Labour is set to take over the running of Bolton Council next week after becoming the largest party in last week’s elections. The council is set to elect its leader on Tuesday, May 16, with the Labour group Nick Peel in pole position to take over the leadership in a minority controlled administration.

The ‘all out’ elections to decide who runs the borough saw Labour gain seats from the Conservatives to finish the night with 26 councillors, the Tories, who previously controlled the council lost 10 seats and now have 16. The Liberal Democrats gained a seat to leave them with six councillors and Horwich and Blackrod Independent’s swept the board in the town to leave them with six members, tripling their group’s number at the Town Hall.

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One Kearsley took all three seats in the Kearsley ward and Farnworth and Kearsley First now have two members, down from three. There is one independent member, Derek Bullock, in Hulton.

The current leader of the council is Conservative Martyn Cox, who retained his seat last week and still leads the group. He has led Bolton Council since the death of previous Conservative leader David Greenhalgh in August 2021.

However, he has made it clear he does not envisage staying in the role after next Tuesday. He told the BBC’s North West Politics show: “The council is in no overall control at the moment but given the relative size of the Labour group and and the size of the Conservative group I think it’s a reasonable conclusion to draw that I will no longer lead the council.”

On Friday, Coun Nick Peel said he expected to form an administration provided the independent parties and Lib Dems did not make a decision to use their votes