2024 Rochdale Council election

← 2023 2 May 2024 2026 →
20 out of 60 seats of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council 31 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Neil Emmott John Taylor Andy Kelly Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats Last election 16 seats, 56.5% 3 seats, 19.6% 1 seat, 11.9% Seats before 46 9 3 Seats won 14 3 1 Seats after 44 9 3 Seat change 2 Popular vote 22,717 10,003 6,345 Percentage 42.1% 18.5% 11.8% Swing 9.1% 3.6% 0.3%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Lee Wolf Party Workers Party Middleton Ind. Last election N/A 0 seats, 5.0% Seats before 0 2 Seats won 2 0 Seats after 2 2 Seat change 2 Popular vote 7,234 3,971 Percentage 13.4% 7.4% Swing N/A 0.8%
Winner of each seat at the 2024 Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council election
Leader before election Neil Emmott Labour Leader after election Neil Emmott Labour

The 2024 Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council elections took place on 2 May 2024 alongside the 2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election and other local elections across the United Kingdom. One third of seats (20) on Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council were contested.^[1] The council remained under Labour majority control.

The council has had an overall Labour majority since 2011. In the previous election in 2023, Labour won 16 seats with 56.5% of the vote gaining three councillors, the Conservatives won three seats with 19.6% of the vote losing one councillor, the Liberal Democrats won 1 seat with 11.9% of the vote, and the Middleton Independents Party won no seats from 5% of the vote losing two councillors.^[2]

On 19 February 2024, Farooq Ahmed, a Liberal Democrat candidate for Central Ward, was suspended by the party after being photographed campaigning with George Galloway in the 2024 Rochdale by-election.^[3]

The council generally elects its councillors in thirds, with a third being up for election every year for three years, with no election in the fourth year.^[4][5] The election will be conducted using the first-past-the-post voting system, with each ward electing one councillor.

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in Rochdale aged 18 or over will be entitled to vote in the election. People who live at two addresses in different councils, such as university students with different term-time and holiday addresses, are entitled to be registered for and vote in elections in both local authorities. Voting in-person at polling stations will take place from 07:00 to 22:00 on election day, and voters will be able to apply for postal votes or proxy votes in advance of the election.

Labour lost two seats to the Workers Party of Britain, but retained its overall majority on the council.^[6]

2024 Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	14	2	70.0	30	44	73.3	22,717	42.1	–9.1
	Conservative	3		15.0	6	9	15.0	10,003	18.5	–3.6
	Liberal Democrats	1		5.0	2	3	5.0	6,345	11.8	+0.3
	Workers Party	2	2	10.0	0	2	3.3	7,234	13.4	N/A
	Middleton Ind.	0		0.0	2	2	3.3	3,971	7.4	+0.8
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	1,640	3.0	–4.2
	Independent	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	1,262	2.3	+1.1
	Reform UK	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	788	1.5	N/A

Bamford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Michael Beal	1,394	42.1	–11.7
	Labour Co-op	Lewis Chadwick Woodall	850	25.6	–9.6
	Workers Party	Jamil Akhtar	794	24.0	N/A
	Green	Peter Corby	182	5.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Zarah Kauser	95	2.9	–8.1
Majority			544	16.5
Turnout			3,344	40.9
Registered electors			8,176
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.1

Castleton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Aisling Gallagher*	899	34.8	–4.6
	Independent	David Jones	569	22.0	+2.2
	Conservative	Malcolm Thomas Bywater	413	16.0	–5.1
	Workers Party	Thomas James Byrne	391	15.1	N/A
	Green	Jonathan Edward Kershaw	183	7.1	–2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Sharon Harrison	132	5.1	–5.0
Majority			330	12.8
Turnout			2,602	33.2
Registered electors			7,847
	Labour hold		Swing	3.4

East Middleton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dylan James Williams*	1,974	67.9	+6.2
	Middleton Ind.	Bernard Peter Wynne	709	24.4	–2.7
	Conservative	Gillian Louise Jackson	183	6.3	–4.9
	Liberal Democrats	Barrie Nicholson	40	1.4	N/A
Majority			1,265	43.5
Turnout			2,910	34.4
Registered electors			8,468
	Labour hold		Swing	4.5

Healey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shah Wazir	1,086	37.7	–31.2
	Conservative	Paul Simon Ellison	618	21.5	–1.1
	Workers Party	Amr Nazir	591	20.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Lord	487	16.9	+8.4
	Green	Anja Jungmayr	96	3.3	N/A
Majority			468	16.2
Turnout			2,903	36.7
Registered electors			7,904
	Labour hold		Swing	15.1

Littleborough Lakeside

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Tom Besford*	1,436	54.9	+10.8
	Conservative	Ian Spencer Jackson	946	36.1	–7.8
	Green	Hannah Macguire	182	7.0	–2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Safina Kauser	36	1.4	–1.2
	Workers Party	Uzair Mehmood	17	0.6	N/A
Majority			490	18.8
Turnout			2,640	36.0
Registered electors			7,342
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	9.3

Milnrow & Newhey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Kelly*	1,684	55.6	+8.4
	Labour	Avis Kay Gilmore	936	30.9	–3.1
	Conservative	Aidan James Forshaw	233	7.7	–5.0
	Green	Feruz Ali	111	3.7	–2.4
	Workers Party	Jordan Rashida	64	2.1	N/A
Majority			748	24.7
Turnout			3,050	36.1
Registered electors			8,452
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	5.8

Norden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Winkler*	1,448	48.5	–5.4
	Labour	Sue Moore-Holmes	968	32.4	+8.9
	Liberal Democrats	Stephanie Robertson	233	7.8	–6.3
	Green	Sarah Croke	188	6.3	–2.1
	Workers Party	Sana Aziz	147	4.9	N/A
Majority			480	16.1
Turnout			3,005	37.3
Registered electors			8,050
	Conservative hold		Swing	7.2

North Middleton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kathryn Bromfield	1,294	48.3	–1.7
	Middleton Ind.	Keely O'Mara	1,163	43.4	+2.7
	Conservative	Aaron Slack	177	6.6	–2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Chariss Peacock	46	1.7	N/A
Majority			131	4.9
Turnout			2,690	29.9
Registered electors			8,987
	Labour hold		Swing	2.0

Smallbridge & Firgrove

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Blundell*	1,094	48.0	–3.2
	Liberal Democrats	Zulfiqar Ali	820	36.0	+9.1
	Conservative	Eileen Taylor	365	16.0	+2.9
Majority			274	12.0
Turnout			2,336	27.4
Registered electors			8,516
	Labour hold		Swing	6.2

South Middleton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	June West*	1,571	51.0	–0.8
	Middleton Ind.	Lee Wolf	1,030	33.4	+1.6
	Conservative	Tracy Furnell	389	12.6	–3.9
	Liberal Democrats	Tony Hughes	91	3.0	N/A
Majority			541	17.6
Turnout			3,103	35.6
Registered electors			8,726
	Labour hold		Swing	1.2

Spotland & Falinge

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Faisal Rana*	1,297	42.6	–6.7
	Liberal Democrats	Rabina Asghar	849	27.9	–10.2
	Independent	Carl Faulkner	693	22.7	N/A
	Conservative	Ann Conway	208	6.8	+0.2
Majority			448	14.7
Turnout			3,064	35.7
Registered electors			8,585
	Labour hold		Swing	1.8

Wardle, Shore & West Littleborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Adam Branton	1,515	60.3	+0.7
	Labour	Farhat Kazmi	442	17.6	–9.7
	Liberal Democrats	Kim Ho	317	12.6	+6.8
	Green	Martyn Savin	190	7.6	+0.2
	Workers Party	Ali Shahid	49	1.9	N/A
Majority			1,073	42.7
Turnout			2,540	30.7
Registered electors			8,276
	Conservative hold		Swing	5.2

West Heywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Joinson	1,080	53.0	–7.4
	Conservative	Stephen Spencer-Jones	490	24.0	–3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Shaw	387	19.0	+7.2
	Workers Party	Umar Malik	81	4.0	N/A
Majority			590	29.0
Turnout			2,064	23.7
Registered electors			8,709
	Labour hold		Swing	1.9

West Middleton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Susan Smith*	1,024	50.3	–10.6
	Middleton Ind.	Janene Walker	767	37.7	+12.1
	Conservative	Matt Roughsedge	154	7.6	–0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Nikki Edwards	89	4.4	–0.5
Majority			257	12.6
Turnout			2,047	27.4
Registered electors			7,475
	Labour hold		Swing	11.4

North Middleton by-election: 31 October 2024

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Middleton Ind.	Keeley O'Mara	812	51.7	+8.3
	Labour	Donna Martin	572	36.4	–11.9
	Conservative	Sajid Majid	108	6.9	+0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Iain Donaldson	80	5.1	+3.4
Majority			240	15.3	N/A
Turnout			1,577	17.2	–12.7
Registered electors			9,143
	Middleton Ind. hold		Swing	10.1