2024 Preston City Council election

2024 Preston City Council election

← 2023 2 May 2024 (2024-05-02) 2026 →
16 out of 48 seats to Preston City Council 25 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	107,500, 25.9% [1]
First party Second party Third party   Leader Matthew Brown John Potter Susan Whittam Party Labour Liberal Democrats Conservative Last election 31 seats, 64.6% 7 seats, 14.6% 10 seats, 20.8% Seats before 31 7 10 Seats after 30 12 6 Seat change 1 5 4 Popular vote 11,222 8,094 5,961 Percentage 40.3% 29.1% 21.4% Swing 12.2% 3.5% 6.9%
Results by ward
Leader before election Matthew Brown Labour Leader after election Matthew Brown Labour

The 2024 Preston City Council election took place on 2 May 2024 to elect members of Preston City Council in Lancashire, England.^[2] This was on the same day as other local elections across England, and Lancashire's Police and Crime Commissioner election.

As is typical for Preston's council elections, sixteen seats of the forty-eight total were contested.^[3] Labour have had majority control of the council for most of the council's existence, including from 2011 following a period of no overall control. Labour retained their control with a comfortable majority at this election. However, the Liberal Democrats enjoyed a successful election, nearly doubling their seat count after taking several seats from the Conservatives^[4] and becoming the main opposition in Preston City Council. In addition, in a shock result the Liberal Democrats took a seat from Labour in the Lea and Larches ward, unseating then-cabinet member for health and wellbeing (and acting county council Labour opposition group leader) Jennifer Mein by a mere 13 votes following a recount.^[5]

The majority of contested seats were fought only by Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats; however in five wards, independent runners or the parties Reform UK and the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition also stood although none of these were successful in gaining a seat. Unlike last year, the Green Party did not stand in any seats.

Several wards recorded relatively high numbers of rejected ballots.^[6]

Following the election the leader of the Preston Conservatives Sue Whittam announced her resignation as leader due to her appointment as Deputy Mayor.^[7]

Election results

Preston City Council's composition following the 2024 elections.

2024 Preston City Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	9	1	56.25	21	30	62.5	11,222	40.3	–10.3
	Liberal Democrats	6	5	37.50	6	12	25.0	8,094	29.1	+4.8
	Conservative	1	4	6.25	5	6	12.5	5,961	21.4	–5.9
	TUSC	0	0	0.00	0	0	0.0	659	2.5
	Independent	0	0	0.00	0	0	0.0	461	1.7
	Reform	0	0	0.00	0	0	0.0	204	0.8

Ward results

The Statements of Persons Nominated was released by Preston Council on 8 April 2024 following the close of nominations.^[2] The results were announced a day after the election.^[1] Incumbent councillors that stood for re-election are marked with an asterisk (*).

Ashton Ward

Ashton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Hull*	1,012	58.8	−4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Rebecca Potter	369	21.5	+9.8
	Conservative	Daniel Duckworth	339	19.7	−1.5
Rejected ballots			41	2.3
Majority
Turnout			1,762	27.20
	Labour hold		Swing

Brookfield Ward

Brookfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sara Holmes	673	66.5	−5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Edward Craven	198	19.6	+10.9
	Conservative	Al-Yasa Khan	141	13.9	−5.2
Rejected ballots			55	5.1
Majority
Turnout			1,070	18.81
	Labour hold		Swing

Cadley Ward

Cadley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Julie van Mierlo	908	48.3	−7.2
	Labour	Jono Grisdale	497	26.4	−1.0
	Conservative	Sarah Hart	319	17.0	±0.0
	Independent	Paul Balshaw	156	8.3	N/A
Rejected ballots			26	1.4
Majority
Turnout			1,906	29.75
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

City Centre Ward

City Centre

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Salim Desai*	880	58.4	−8.1
	Conservative	Andy Pratt	318	21.1	+5.6
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Lawrence	308	20.5	+11.1
Rejected ballots			110	6.8
Majority
Turnout			1,616	18.95
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Deepdale Ward

Deepdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Siraz Natha*	849	50.9	−35.4
	TUSC	Hasan Tunay	522	31.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Jurgen Voges	176	10.6	+4.0
	Conservative	Nilli Williamson	120	7.2	+1.1
Rejected ballots			195	10.5
Majority
Turnout			1,863	28.13
	Labour hold		Swing

Fishwick and Frenchwood Ward

Fishwick and Frenchwood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Martyn Rawlinson*	924	61.1	−10.7
	Liberal Democrats	Alana Mullen	387	25.6	+19.9
	Conservative	Ishaq Vaez	201	13.3	−9.2
Rejected ballots			151	9.1
Majority
Turnout			1,663	27.54
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Garrison Ward

Garrison

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Kelly*	967	53.8	−7.8
	Liberal Democrats	Claire Craven	465	25.9	+10.8
	Conservative	Lakwinder Singh	365	20.3	−2.4
Rejected ballots			190	9.6
Majority
Turnout			1,986	30.02
	Labour hold		Swing

Greyfriars Ward

Greyfriars

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Peak	1,029	47.4	−1.0
	Conservative	Dave Leme Da Silva	624	28.7	+2.4
	Labour	Avery Greatorex	519	23.9	−1.1
Rejected ballots			85	3.8
Majority
Turnout			2,257	35.73
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Ingol and Cottam Ward

Ingol and Cottam

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ben Ward	861	43.7	−5.0
	Conservative	Trevor Hart*	550	27.9	−3.1
	Labour	Adam Malik	354	18.0	−1.3
	Reform	David Preston	204	10.4	N/A
Rejected ballots			10	0.5
Majority
Turnout			1,979	26.30
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Lea and Larches Ward

Lea and Larches

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Jewell	578	36.2	+16.1
	Labour	Jenny Mein*	565	35.4	−28.8
	Independent	Ann Cowell	305	19.1	N/A
	Conservative	Tracy Slater	147	9.2	−5.1
Rejected ballots			8	0.5
Majority
Turnout			1,603	25.03
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Plungington Ward

Plungington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nweeda Khan*	838	62.1	−14.0
	Conservative	Martin McKeever	203	15.0	+0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Cristina Mylroie	172	12.7	+4.4
	TUSC	Joel Patton	137	10.1	N/A
Rejected ballots			41	2.9
Majority
Turnout			1,391	17.28
	Labour hold		Swing

Preston Rural East Ward

Preston Rural East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Bell*	1,056	48.5	−2.2
	Labour	Victoria Blundell	698	32.0	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Joanne Joyner	425	19.5	+1.1
Rejected ballots			36	1.6
Majority
Turnout			2,215	28.01
	Conservative hold		Swing

Preston Rural North Ward

Preston Rural North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Daniel Guise	869	47.9	+9.7
	Conservative	Keith Middlebrough*	640	35.3	−8.3
	Labour	Taylor Donoughue-Smith	304	16.8	−2.8
Rejected ballots			22	1.2
Majority
Turnout			1,835	27.48
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Ribbleton Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Anna Hindle*	595	65.2	−7.7
	Conservative	Mary Kennedy	163	17.9	+0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Kate Bosman	155	17.0	+7.7
Rejected ballots			28	3.0
Majority
Turnout			941	16.45
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Sharoe Green Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	George Kulbacki	1,050	43.6	+8.9
	Labour	Mark Routledge	833	34.6	−4.8
	Conservative	David Walker*	523	21.7	−3.8
Rejected ballots			76	3.1
Majority			217
Turnout			2,482	39.32
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

St. Matthews Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Suleman Sarwar*	714	64.3	−16.1
	Liberal Democrats	Rene van Mierlo	244	22.0	+14.1
	Conservative	Sohaib Ashraf	152	13.7	+2.6
Rejected ballots			146	11.6
Majority
Turnout			1,256	20.24
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

By-elections

Ashton

Ashton by-election: 16 October 2025^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ronan Hodgson	659	35.5	+14.0
	Reform	Lee Slater	548	29.5	N/A
	Labour	Mark Routledge	429	23.1	–35.7
	Independent	Ann Cowell	101	5.4	N/A
	Conservative	Kevin Brockbank	61	3.3	–16.4
	Independent	Aran Bailey	60	3.2	N/A
Majority			111	6.0	N/A
Turnout			1,865	28.3	+1.1
Registered electors			6,585
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour

Rejected ballots

Several wards recorded relatively high numbers of rejected ballots at the 2024 election.^[9] Local outlet Blog Preston reported that some spoiled ballot papers in Preston carried the message "No Ceasefire, No Vote", including in Deepdale and Fishwick & Frenchwood.^[10] The slogan was also used in wider political campaigning in 2024 for a ceasefire in the Israeli-Gaza War, including a conference held in Blackburn before the local elections.^[11] However, the official results published by Preston City Council recorded only the number of rejected ballots by ward and did not state why any ballot was rejected.^[12]

References

1. "Election results - 2 May 2024". Preston City Council. 3 May 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
2. "Elections 2024". Preston City Council. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
3. "Preston City Council local elections 2024: All the candidates who want your vote". LancsLive. 10 April 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
4. Beardsworth, Luke (3 May 2024). "Preston City Council local elections 2024 rolling results updates". Blog Preston. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
5. Faulkner, Paul (3 May 2024). "Preston election results 2024: Lib Dems become main opposition as Tories trounced & Labour lose cabinet member". Lancashire Post. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
6. "Election results - 2 May 2024". Preston City Council. 3 May 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
7. Preston local elections 2024 - Preston Conservatives leader Sue Whittam. Retrieved 2024-05-06 – via www.youtube.com.
8. "Ashton Ward - By-election results". Preston City Council. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
9. "Election results - 2 May 2024". Preston City Council. 3 May 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
10. Walker, Ed (7 May 2024). "Flag Market to see latest Preston for Palestine protest". Blog Preston. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
11. "The No Ceasefire, No Vote movement is growing rapidly". Morning Star. 23 February 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
12. "Election results - 2 May 2024". Preston City Council. 3 May 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2026.