2024 Salford City Council election explained

Election Name:2024 Salford City Council election
Flag Image:File:Coat of Arms of Salford City Council.svg
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2023 Salford City Council election
Previous Year:2023
Next Election:2026 Salford City Council election
Next Year:2026
Majority Seats:31
Election Date:2 May 2024
Turnout:26% -2.20%
Party1:Labour Party (UK)
Last Election1:18 seats (57.3%)
Seats Before1:49
Seat Change1: 1
Seats After1:50
Leader2:Robin Garrido
Party2:Conservative Party (UK)
Last Election2:3 seats (23.5%)
Seats Before2:8
Seat Change2: 1
Seats After2:7
Leader4:Paul Heilbron
Party4:Liberal Democrats (UK)
Last Election4:0 seats (8.2%)
Seats Before4:1
Seat Change4:1
Seats After4:2
Party5:Independent politician
Seats Before5:2
Seat Change5:1
Seats After5:1
Council control
Posttitle:Council control after election
Before Party:Labour Party (UK)
After Party:Labour Party (UK)

The 2024 Salford City Council elections took place on 2 May 2024 alongside other local elections across the United Kingdom. Twenty-one seats on Salford City Council were up for election; one in each ward, and one additional seat in Ordsall to fill a casual vacancy.

The Labour Party retained control of the council.[1] The incumbent Labour mayor, Paul Dennett, was also re-elected to the post of Mayor of Salford at the mayoral election held on the same day.

Background

In the most recent council election in 2022, Labour won 15 seats, with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats winning two seats each and an independent politician winning one.[2]

As the Local Government Boundary Commission for England produced new boundaries for Manchester ahead of the 2021 election, meaning that all councillors were elected before returning to electing by thirds, candidates up for re-election in 2024 are those who came first in each ward in 2021.

Changes since last election

In November 2023 Liberal Democrats councillor Alex Warren (Quays ward) resigned after he took up a politically restricted role.[3] A by-election was held on 11 January 2024 which was won by Paul Heilbron for the Lib Dems.[4]

During the 2023 local elections, Chris Twells, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Ordsall since 2022, sought to simultaneously become a councillor in Cotswold District Council, standing in the Tetbury with Upton ward.[5] He subsequently won both seats, with the Cotswold one being a surprise victory in a previously safe Conservative seat.[6] Twells subsequently sat as an independent rather than a Liberal Democrat on both councils, and resigned from his Ordsall seat on March 15, 2024. The seat remained vacant until a by-election was held on the same day as the 2024 local elections.[7]

Electoral process

The council elects its councillors in thirds, with a third being up for election every year for three years, with no election in the fourth year.[8] [9] The election took place by first-past-the-post voting, with wards generally being represented by three councillors, with one elected in each election year to serve a four-year term.

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in Salford aged 18 or over were entitled to vote in the election. People who lived at two addresses in different councils, such as university students with different term-time and holiday addresses, were entitled to be registered for and vote in elections in both local authorities. Voting in-person at polling stations took 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.

Results

Labour retained its majority on the council, making a net gain of one seat.[10]

Election result

Ward Results

Salford City Council released the list of candidates in early April.[11] [12]

Asterisks denote incumbent councillors seeking re-election.

Source:[13]

Quays

Worsley & Westwood Park

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2024-05-05 . Labour retains Salford City Council . 2024-05-05 . BBC News . en-GB.
  2. News: Salford result - Local Elections 2022 . 20 January 2023 . BBC News.
  3. News: Salford Quay's only Lib Dem councillor quits for new role. BBC News. 25 November 2023. 2 January 2024.
  4. News: What Salford's newest Lib Dem councillor plans to do for city after key by-election win. 12 January 2024. 12 January 2024. Declan. Carey. Manchester Evening News.
  5. News: Cotswolds election candidate is already a councillor 153 miles away in Greater Manchester. Gloucestershire Live. 14 April 2023. 17 April 2024.
  6. News: Salford councillor who won second seat 160 miles away says he will resign. The Guardian. 5 May 2023. 17 April 2024.
  7. News: King Charles III's republican Cotswold councillor reveals date he'll quit other council he sits on 160 miles away in Greater Manchester. Gloucestershire Live. 23 Jan 2024. 17 April 2024.
  8. News: Local government structure and elections. GOV.UK. 2018-04-27.
  9. Web site: Election Timetable in England.
  10. News: Carey . Declan . Salford council local election 2024 results in full . 2 June 2024 . Manchester Evening News . 2 May 2024.
  11. Web site: Statement of persons nominated: Local elections•Salford City Council. 17 April 2024 . .
  12. Web site: Salford council local elections 2024 candidates list in full. 8 April 2024. Carey. Declan. 17 April 2024 . Manchester Evening News.
  13. Web site: Election results.