2024 Preston City Council election

2024 Preston City Council election

2 May 2024 (2024-05-02)
16 out of 48 seats to Preston City Council 25 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	107,500, 25.9%
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 TBD TBD TBD Popular vote TBD TBD TBD Percentage TBD TBD TBD Swing TBD TBD TBD
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. 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. 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, and remained with a comfortable majority when the results were announced. However, the Liberal Democrats enjoyed a successful election, nearly doubling their seat count after taking several seats from the Conservatives 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.

The majority of contested seats were fought only by Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats; however in five wards, independent runners or the parities 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.

Following the election the leader of the Preston Conservatives Sue Whittam announced her resignation as leader.

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
	Liberal Democrats	6	5	37.50	6	12	25.0
	Conservative	1	4	6.25	5	6	12.5
	Independent	0	0	0.0	0	0	0.0
	Reform UK	0	0	0.0	0	0	0.0
	TUSC	0	0	0.0	0	0	0.0

Ward Results

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

Ashton Ward

Ashton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Daniel Duckworth
	Labour	James Hull*
	Liberal Democrats	Rebecca Potter
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Brookfield Ward

Brookfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Al-Yasa Khan
	Labour	Sara Holmes
	Liberal Democrats	Edward Craven
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Cadley Ward

Cadley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sarah Hart
	Independent	Paul Balshaw
	Labour	Jono Grisdale
	Liberal Democrats	Julie van Mierlo
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

City Centre Ward

City Centre

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andy Pratt
	Labour Co-op	Salim Desai*
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Lawrence
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Deepdale Ward

Deepdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Siraz Natha*	849
	TUSC	Hasan Tunay	522
	Liberal Democrats	Jurgen Voges	176
	Conservative	Nilli Williamson	120
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Fishwick and Frenchwood Ward

Fishwick and Frenchwood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ishaq Vaez
	Labour Co-op	Martyn Rawlinson*
	Liberal Democrats	Alana Mullen
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Garrison Ward

Garrison

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lakwinder Singh
	Labour	Peter Kelly*
	Liberal Democrats	Claire Craven
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Greyfriars Ward

Greyfriars

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dave Leme Da Silva
	Labour	Avery Greatorex
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Peak
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Ingol and Cottam Ward

Ingol and Cottam

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Trevor Hart*
	Labour	Adam Malik
	Liberal Democrats	Ben Ward
	Reform UK	David Preston
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Lee and Larches Ward

Lee and Larches

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tracy Slater	147
	Independent	Ann Cowell	305
	Labour	Jenny Mein*	565
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Jewell	578
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Plungington Ward

Plungington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin McKeever	203
	Labour	Nweeda Khan*	838
	Liberal Democrats	Cristina Mylroie	172
	TUSC	Joel Patton	137
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Preston Rural East Ward

Preston Rural East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Bell*
	Labour	Victoria Blundell
	Liberal Democrats	Joanne Joyner
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Preston Rural North Ward

Preston Rural North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Keith Middlebrough*
	Labour	Taylor Donoughue-Smith
	Liberal Democrats	Daniel Guise
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Ribbleton Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mary Kennedy
	Labour Co-op	Anna Hindle*
	Liberal Democrats	Kate Bosman
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
	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
Majority			217
Turnout			2,482	39.3	-1.3
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.4

St. Matthews Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sohaib Ashraf
	Labour Co-op	Suleman Sarwar*
	Liberal Democrats	Rene van Mierlo
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing