Elections to Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council were held on 10 June 2004. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2003.^[1] The council stayed under no overall control, with the Liberal Democrats overtaking the Labour Party, by 1 seat, as the largest party and assuming control of the council from Labour. Overall turnout was 43.5%.

Bolton Local Election Result 2004

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	21			+7	35.0	29.9	68,281	+0.9%
	Labour	20			-7	33.3	31.9	72,917	-3.2%
	Conservative	19			0	31.7	36.9	84,371	+2.8%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.3	770	+0.0%
	Socialist Labour	0	0	0	0	0	0.3	675	-0.5%
	Respect	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	540	+0.2%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	495	+0.2%
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	412	+0.2%

|}

Prior to the election the composition of the council was:

↓

27	19	14
Labour	Conservative	Lib Dems

After the election the composition of the council was:

↓

20	19	21
Labour	Conservative	Lib Dems

Astley Bridge ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hilary Fairclough	2,574	21.4
	Conservative	Stuart Lever	2,377	19.8
	Conservative	John Walsh	2,341	19.5
	Labour	June Crook	997	8.3
	Liberal Democrats	Anne Warren	854	7.1
	Labour	Muhammad Rafiq	791	6.6
	Liberal Democrats	Ronald Halliwell	655	5.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jaleh Salari	627	5.2
	Labour	Christopher White	491	4.1
	Socialist Labour	Howard Broadbent	308	2.6
Turnout			12,015	40.0

Bradshaw ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Hall	2,579	20.7
	Conservative	Diana Brierley	2,420	19.4
	Conservative	Paul Brierley	2,418	19.4
	Labour	Janice Sutton	1,011	8.1
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Howarth	996	8.0
	Labour	Paul Sedgwick	989	7.9
	Liberal Democrats	Tracy Ward	750	6.0
	Liberal Democrats	Frances Thomas	686	5.5
	Labour	Mohammed Ayub	620	5.0
Turnout			12,469	45.0

Breightmet ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Wilkinson	1,631	15.2
	Labour	John Bryne	1,554	14.5
	Labour	Lynda Byrne	1,492	13.9
	Conservative	James Hinegan	1,471	13.7
	Conservative	Richard Elliott	1,459	13.6
	Labour	Donald Grime	1,419	13.2
	Liberal Democrats	Edward Hill	695	6.5
	Liberal Democrats	Rosalind Harasiwka	510	4.8
	Liberal Democrats	Franko Harasiwka	494	4.6
Turnout			10,725	35.0

Bromley Cross ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Wilkinson	3,315	21.9
	Conservative	Norman Critchley	3,286	21.7
	Conservative	Donald Carr	3,257	21.5
	Labour	Jeremy Foster	1,043	6.9
	Labour	Anthony Muscat Terribile	997	6.6
	Liberal Democrats	Clive Atty	938	6.2
	Labour	Susan Whittle	890	5.9
	Liberal Democrats	Lesley Easterman	782	5.2
	Liberal Democrats	Bernard McCartin	614	4.1
Turnout			15,122	48.0

Crompton ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Iqbal Patel	2,258	17.9
	Liberal Democrats	Stewart Ball	2,225	17.7
	Liberal Democrats	Valibhai Patel	2,043	16.2
	Labour	R Howarth	1,135	9.0
	Conservative	Donald Fairclough	954	7.6
	Labour	Mohammed Alli	929	7.4
	Conservative	Winifred Wilkinson	902	7.2
	Conservative	Jolyon Coombs	874	6.9
	Labour	Ibrahim Kala	820	6.5
	Socialist Labour	Lynne Lowe	231	1.8
	Independent	Anthony Backhouse	228	1.8
Turnout			12,599	43.0

Farnworth ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Lord	1,484	17.9
	Labour	Raymond Stones	1,454	17.5
	Labour	Anthony Spencer	1,334	16.1
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Brooks	899	10.8
	Conservative	Peter Taylor	733	8.8
	Liberal Democrats	David Connor	723	8.7
	Liberal Democrats	Sara McGeehan	616	7.4
	Conservative	Talib Hussain	530	6.5
	Conservative	Mohammed Iqbal	525	6.3
Turnout			8,298	27.0

Great Lever ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ansar Hussain	1,487	14.2
	Conservative	Mohammad Idrees	1,439	13.8
	Labour	Prentice Howarth	1,400	13.4
	Labour	Martin Donaghy	1,399	13.4
	Labour	Champak Mistry	1,306	12.5
	Conservative	Neil Germaine	1,275	12.2
	Liberal Democrats	Catherine Toft	765	7.3
	Liberal Democrats	Maria Garcia	734	7.0
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Toft	652	6.2
Turnout			10,457	38.0

Halliwell ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Clifford Morris	2,012	19.6
	Labour	Linda Thomas	1,944	18.9
	Labour	Akhtar Zaman	1,918	18.7
	Liberal Democrats	Martin McLoughlin	831	8.1
	Conservative	Mohammad Hanif	811	7.9
	Liberal Democrats	Asif Vali	740	7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Yakub Patel	726	7.1
	Conservative	Maureen Coombs	678	6.6
	Conservative	Robert Ionn	602	5.9
Turnout			10,262	35.0

Harper Green ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Dennis	1,272	15.1
	Labour	Margaret Clare	1,196	14.2
	Labour	Laurence Williamson	1,195	14.1
	Conservative	Robert Tyler	860	10.2
	Liberal Democrats	Geoffrey Willis	839	9.9
	Liberal Democrats	Wendy Connor	838	9.9
	Liberal Democrats	Laura Baron	791	9.4
	Conservative	Ethel Kenny	740	8.8
	Conservative	Frederick Taylor	716	8.5
Turnout			8,447	30.0

Heaton and Lostock ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frank Rushton	3,485	21.3
	Conservative	Robert Allen	3,445	21.1
	Conservative	Colin Shaw	3,419	20.9
	Liberal Democrats	David Cooper	1,080	6.6
	Liberal Democrats	Thomas Swarbrick	1,046	6.4
	Labour	Barbara Sharples	1,043	6.4
	Labour	John Gillatt	1,027	6.3
	Liberal Democrats	Christine MacPherson	988	6.0
	Labour	Ghulam Raja	806	4.9
Turnout			16,339	53.0

Horwich and Blackrod ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Hamilton	1,455	12.9
	Liberal Democrats	Martyn Cox	1,357	12.0
	Liberal Democrats	John Cronnolley	1,324	11.7
	Labour	Isabel Seddon	1,283	11.3
	Conservative	John Barrow	1,266	11.2
	Conservative	Michael Hollick	1,241	11.0
	Labour	Keith Bowes	1,182	10.5
	Labour	Kevan Helsby	1,155	10.2
	Conservative	Thomas Ashton	1,047	9.3
Turnout			11,310	42.0

Horwich North East ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Barbara Ronson	2,720	21.0
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Ronson	2,685	20.8
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Rock	1,887	14.6
	Conservative	Oliver Fairhurst	1,066	8.2
	Conservative	Peter Baxendale	982	7.6
	Conservative	Stephen Wallen	958	7.4
	Labour	James Kilcoyne	890	6.9
	Labour	Madeline Murray	871	6.7
	Labour	Joyce Kellett	866	6.7
Turnout			12,925	46.0

Hulton ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Walsh	1,827	15.3
	Conservative	Phillip Ashcroft	1,752	14.7
	Conservative	Andrew Morgan	1,711	14.3
	Labour	Thomas Fitzpatrick	1,423	11.9
	Labour	Guy Harkin	1,380	11.6
	Labour	Michael Francis	1,281	10.7
	Liberal Democrats	Linden Greensitt	937	7.8
	Liberal Democrats	Joseph Hayes	862	7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Kieran McGeehan	771	6.5
Turnout			11,944	41.0

Kearsley ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Rothwell	1,807	19.6
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Rothwell	1,769	19.2
	Liberal Democrats	William Collison	1,616	17.5
	Labour	Derek Burrows	1,144	12.4
	Labour	Maureen Barlow	919	10.0
	Labour	Peter Johnston	905	9.8
	Conservative	George Hardman	379	4.1
	Conservative	Sheila Kesler	352	3.8
	Conservative	Barry Noble	342	3.7
Turnout			9,233	33.0

Little Lever and Darcy Lever ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mary Woodward	1,671	14.3
	Labour	Anthony Connell	1,642	14.1
	Labour	Maurenn Connell	1,630	14.0
	Conservative	David Broadie	1,536	13.2
	Labour	Sean Hornby	1,532	13.1
	Conservative	Jason Tyler	1,252	10.7
	Liberal Democrats	William Crook	718	6.2
	Liberal Democrats	Christine Goodier	530	4.5
	Green	Alwynne Cartmell	491	4.2
	Liberal Democrats	Pauline Grimshaw	385	3.3
	Green	Alan Johnson	279	2.4
Turnout			11,666	44.0

Rumworth ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rosa Kay	1,734	15.6
	Labour	Ebrahim Adia	1,706	15.3
	Labour	Ismail Ibrahim	1,683	15.1
	Liberal Democrats	Rashid Jangharia	1,316	11.8
	Liberal Democrats	Gulamali Jiva	1,228	11.0
	Liberal Democrats	James Woodrow	991	8.9
	Conservative	John Heyes	633	5.7
	Conservative	Albert Brandwood	598	5.4
	Conservative	Sydney Palmer	567	5.1
	Respect	Neil McAlister	540	4.9
	Socialist Labour	Dorothy Entwistle	136	1.2
Turnout			11,132	38.0

Smithills ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Hayes	2,277	18.8
	Liberal Democrats	Carole Swarbrick	2,176	18.0
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Silvester	1,919	15.9
	Conservative	Dennis Bray	995	8.2
	Conservative	Douglas Bagnall	909	7.5
	Conservative	John Batley	846	7.0
	Labour	Andrew Page	766	6.3
	Labour	Robert Bradley	764	6.3
	Labour	Mary Page	753	6.2
	UKIP	Michael Ford	495	4.1
	Independent	James Pendlebury	184	1.5
Turnout			12,084	42.0

Tonge with The Haulgh ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank White	1,818	18.0
	Labour	Elaine Sherrington	1,779	17.6
	Labour	Nicholas Peel	1,721	17.0
	Conservative	Nigel Ford	1,282	12.7
	Conservative	David Greenhalgh	1,214	12.0
	Conservative	Kevan Ward	1,168	11.5
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Eidlow	472	4.7
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Langdon	378	3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Tanwir Taj Din	292	2.9
Turnout			10,124	37.0

Westhoughton North and Chew Moor ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Gradwell	1,537	13.0
	Liberal Democrats	Arthur Price	1,532	13.0
	Liberal Democrats	James Gilfillan	1,456	12.3
	Conservative	Kay Rushton	1,317	11.1
	Conservative	Jane Frappola	1,279	10.8
	Conservative	Philip Gore	1,277	10.8
	Labour	David Chadwick	1,269	10.7
	Labour	Kevin McManmon	1,154	9.8
	Labour	David Holden-Locke	993	9.4
Turnout			11,814	43.0

Westhoughton South ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Wilkinson	1,645	17.3
	Liberal Democrats	John Ainscough	1,468	15.5
	Liberal Democrats	Julia Silvester	1,376	14.5
	Labour	Barbara Ramsden	1,017	10.7
	Labour	Trevor Leese	860	9.1
	Labour	Valerie Leese	829	8.7
	Conservative	Michael Pepper	800	8.4
	Conservative	Betty Joyce	764	8.0
	Conservative	Salvatore Frappola	737	7.8
Turnout			9,496	36.0

• Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council Election Results 1973–2012" (PDF). The Elections Centre. The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 12 July 2016.