The 2026 Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on Thursday 7 May 2026, alongside other local elections in the United Kingdom. One third of the 60 members of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council in Greater Manchester were elected.

Council composition

After 2024 election Before 2026 election
Party Seats Party Seats
Labour 44 Labour 43
Conservative 9 Conservative 8
Liberal Democrats 3 Liberal Democrats 3
Middleton Ind. 2 Middleton Ind. 2
Workers Party 2 Workers Party 2
Reform 0 Reform 2

Changes 2024–2026:

  • August 2024: John Taylor (Conservative) leaves party to sit as an independent[2]
  • September 2024: Peter Allonby (Middleton Independents) disqualified due to non-attendance – by-election held October 2024[3]
  • October 2024: Keeley O'Mara (Middleton Independents) wins by-election[4]
  • March 2025: Elsie Blundell (Labour) resigns – by-election held May 2025[5]
  • May 2025: Jordan Tarrant-Short (Reform) gains by-election from Labour[6]
  • July 2025: John Taylor (Independent) joins Reform[7]

Background

Like much of Greater Manchester, Labour has historically been strong in Rochdale. The Conservatives briefly held a majority in 1976,[8] and the Liberal Democrats were the largest party from 2004 to 2011 Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council election; aside from these periods, Labour has formed the administration of the council as either a majority or minority.[9] The 2024 election saw Labour lose two seats to the Workers Party of Britain, following on from George Galloway's victory in the parliamentary by-election earlier in 2024, and retain a seat gained through a defection from the Middleton Independents Party.[10] No other seats changed hands.[11]

A new set of ward boundaries was used for the 2022 election. This election will be for the councillors elected with the highest number of votes in each of the twenty three-member wards.[12] Labour are defending fourteen seats, the Conservatives are defending three, the Middleton Independents are defending two, and the Liberal Democrats are defending one.

Summary

Election result

2026 Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council election[13]
Party This election Full council This election
Seats Net Seats % Other Total Total % Votes Votes % +/−
  Labour 2 Decrease12 10.0 29 31 51.7 16,858 25.6 –16.5
  Reform 13 Increase13 65.0 2 15 25.0 23,103 35.0 +33.5
  Conservative 2 Decrease 1 10.0 5 7 11.7 7,178 10.9 –7.6
  Workers Party 2 Increase 2 10.0 2 4 6.7 5,332 8.1 –5.3
  Liberal Democrats 1 Steady 5.0 2 3 5.0 5,090 7.7 –4.1
  Green 0 Steady 0.0 0 0 0.0 7,208 10.9 +7.9
  Middleton Ind. 0 Decrease 2 0.0 0 0 0.0 936 1.4 –6.0
  Advance UK 0 Steady 0.0 0 0 0.0 52 0.1 N/A
  Independent 0 Steady 0.0 0 0 0.0 195 0.3 –2.0

Incumbents

Ward Incumbent councillor Party Re-standing
Balderstone & Kirkholt Philip Massey Labour Yes
Bamford Angela Smith Conservative Yes
Castleton Billy Sheerin Labour Yes
Central Rochdale Iftikhar Ahmed Labour Yes
East Middleton Paul Beswick Middleton Ind. Yes
Healey Shaun O'Neill Labour Yes
Hopwood Hall Susan Emmott Labour Yes
Kingsway Shakil Ahmed Labour Yes
Littleborough Lakeside Janet Emsley Labour Yes
Milkstone & Deeplish Mohammed Arshad Labour Yes
Milnrow & Newhey Irene Davidson Liberal Democrats Yes
Norden James Gartside Conservative No
North Heywood Liam O'Rourke Labour No
North Middleton Keeley O'Mara[a] Middleton Ind. Yes
Smallbridge & Firgrove Aftab Hussain Labour Yes
South Middleton Peter Williams Labour Yes
Spotland & Falinge Iram Faisal Labour Yes
Wardle, Shore & West
Littleborough		 Ashley Dearnley Conservative No
West Heywood Angela Brown Labour Yes
West Middleton Phil Burke Labour Yes

Ward results

Balderstone & Kirkholt

Balderstone & Kirkholt[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Ashley-Louise Gilbert 1,205 42.4 N/A
Labour Philip Massey 722 25.4 −27.5
Green Sami Mir 349 12.3 +5.0
Workers Party Altaf Nadeem 275 9.7 −9.6
Conservative John Kershaw 160 5.6 −8.9
Liberal Democrats Rob Chilton 129 4.5 −1.4
Majority 483 17.0 N/A
Turnout 2,840 33.3 +8.5
Registered electors 8,533
Reform gain from Labour

Bamford

Bamford[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Angela Smith 1,230 34.5 −7.6
Reform Christopher Birchenough 1,009 28.3 N/A
Green George Hilton 566 15.9 +10.4
Labour Duncan Hannant 466 13.1 −12.5
Workers Party Bahadur Kamran 293 8.2 −15.8
Majority 221 6.2 –10.3
Turnout 3,564 43.2 +2.3
Registered electors 8,245
Conservative hold

Castleton

Castleton[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Dave Jones 1,379 44.7 N/A
Labour Billy Sheerin 719 23.3 −11.5
Green Jonathan Kershaw 638 20.7 +13.6
Conservative Malcolm Bywater 197 6.4 −9.6
Liberal Democrats Sharon Harrison 150 4.9 −0.2
Majority 660 21.4 N/A
Turnout 3,083 37.4 +4.1
Registered electors 8,249
Reform gain from Labour

Central Rochdale

Central Rochdale[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Workers Party Waqar Khan 1,944 47.3 −5.7
Labour Iftikhar Ahmed 1,424 34.7 −5.8
Green Peter Cloran 395 9.6 N/A
Reform Samantha Payne 269 6.5 N/A
Conservative Catherine Leach 77 1.9 −0.9
Majority 520 12.6 +0.1
Turnout 4,109 43.7 +1.3
Registered electors 9,400
Workers Party gain from Labour Swing Increase0.1

East Middleton

East Middleton[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Gina Jacques 1,315 40.1 −27.8
Reform Mervyn Simpson 1,215 37.0 N/A
Middleton Ind. Paul Beswick 337 10.3 −14.1
Green Clare Wood 265 8.1 N/A
Conservative Michael Smith 149 4.5 −1.8
Majority 100 3.1 –40.4
Turnout 3,281 38.4 +4.0
Registered electors 8,549
Labour gain from Middleton Ind.

Healey

Healey[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Mark Stephens 1,300 37.5 N/A
Labour Shaun O’Neill 772 22.3 −15.4
Liberal Democrats Andy Lord 528 15.2 −1.7
Green Umar Ali 441 12.7 +9.4
Workers Party Raja Miah 237 6.8 −13.7
Conservative Robert McLean 190 5.5 −16.0
Majority 528 15.2 N/A
Turnout 3,468 43.2 +6.8
Registered electors 8,035
Reform gain from Labour

Hopwood Hall

Hopwood Hall[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Steve Potter 1,536 47.9 +32.3
Labour Susan Emmott 856 26.7 −23.4
Conservative Stephen Spencer-Jones 319 9.9 −4.3
Green Robert King 290 9.0 N/A
Liberal Democrats Iain Donaldson 157 4.9 −2.9
Advance UK Alan Shaw 52 1.6 N/A
Majority 680 21.2 N/A
Turnout 3,210 36.0 +7.3
Registered electors 8,910
Reform gain from Labour

Kingsway

Kingsway[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Shakil Ahmed 1,176 34.4 −7.2
Workers Party Mohammed Saleem 820 24.0 −4.2
Reform Denise Harrison 812 23.7 N/A
Green Mark Hollindrake 364 10.6 +2.0
Conservative Steven Edgar 132 3.9 −6.4
Liberal Democrats Jenny Kelly 117 3.4 −7.8
Majority 356 10.4 –3.0
Turnout 3,421 40.4 +5.6
Registered electors 8,472
Labour hold Swing Decrease1.5

Littleborough Lakeside

Littleborough Lakeside[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Victoria Howard 1,391 40.7 N/A
Labour Janet Emsley 1,170 34.3 −20.6
Conservative Ian Jackson 454 13.3 −22.8
Green Paul Wooten 274 8.0 +1.0
Liberal Democrats Emma Griffin 125 3.7 +2.3
Majority 221 6.4 N/A
Turnout 3,414 46.0 +10.0
Registered electors 7,414
Reform gain from Labour

Milkstone and Deeplish

Milkstone and Deeplish[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Workers Party Mohammed Shafiq 1,560 49.7 −12.7
Labour Mohammad Arshad 1,017 32.4 +7.9
Green Neil Rutter 296 9.4 +5.6
Reform Stuart Mather 161 5.1 N/A
Liberal Democrats Majdi Aldimashqi 64 2.0 −3.2
Conservative Len Branton 38 1.2 −2.9
Majority 543 17.3 –20.6
Turnout 3,136 39.9 +2.5
Registered electors 7,850
Workers Party gain from Labour Swing Decrease10.3

Milnrow and Newhey

Milnrow and Newhey[24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Anthony Gilbert 1,400 39.1 N/A
Liberal Democrats Irene Davidson 1,306 36.4 −19.2
Labour Avis Gilmore 519 14.5 −16.4
Green Jack Gower 217 6.1 +2.4
Conservative Milton Danczuk 128 3.6 −4.1
Workers Party Mohammed Shafiq 13 0.4 −1.7
Majority 94 2.7 N/A
Turnout 3,583 42.0 +5.9
Registered electors 8,528
Reform gain from Liberal Democrats

Norden

Norden[25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Ellison 1,662 42.2 −6.3
Reform Kevin Lane 1,193 30.3 N/A
Labour Sue Moore-Holmes 495 12.6 −19.8
Green Sarah Croke 431 11.0 +4.7
Liberal Democrats Stephanie Robertson 154 3.9 −3.9
Majority 469 11.9 –4.2
Turnout 3,935 48.4 +11.1
Registered electors 8,123
Conservative hold

North Heywood

North Heywood[26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Michael Howard 1,365 53.8 +32.3
Labour Lewis Woodall 597 23.5 −29.7
Green Naomi Brown 310 12.2 N/A
Conservative Sam Bancroft 144 5.7 −10.4
Liberal Democrats Steve Gillian 123 4.8 −0.9
Majority 768 21.3 N/A
Turnout 2,539 31.5 +7.4
Registered electors 8,060
Reform gain from Labour

North Middleton

North Middleton[27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Lee Wolf 1,450 44.8 N/A
Middleton Ind. Keely O’Mara 599 18.5 −24.9
Labour Connor Stanisauskis 562 17.4 −30.9
Green James Luckham 410 12.7 N/A
Conservative Eileen Taylor 141 4.4 −2.2
Liberal Democrats Chariss Peacock 73 2.3 +0.6
Majority 851 26.3 N/A
Turnout 3,235 34.7 +4.8
Registered electors 9,320
Reform gain from Middleton Ind.

Smallbridge and Firgrove

Smallbridge and Firgrove[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Mohammed Khizer 917 30.3 −5.7
Reform Cole Brierley 850 28.1 N/A
Labour Aftab Hussain 638 21.1 −26.9
Green Feruz Ali 332 11.0 N/A
Independent Billy Howarth 160 5.3 N/A
Conservative Charlotte Taylor 126 4.2 −11.8
Majority 67 2.2 N/A
Turnout 3,068 35.3 +7.9
Registered electors 8,694
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour

South Middleton

South Middleton[29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Matthew Pilkington 1,674 44.2 N/A
Labour Peter Williams 1,238 32.7 −18.3
Green Sunday Onabanjo 392 10.3 N/A
Conservative Stacey Bancroft 308 8.1 −4.5
Liberal Democrats Sam Ellis 176 4.6 +1.6
Majority 436 11.5 N/A
Turnout 3,788 42.7 +7.1
Registered electors 8,881
Reform gain from Labour

Spotland and Falinge

Spotland and Falinge[30]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Carl Faulkner 1,018 30.5 N/A
Labour Iram Faisal 1,009 30.2 −12.4
Liberal Democrats Rabina Asghar 689 20.6 −7.3
Green Mick Coats 307 9.2 N/A
Workers Party Benita Blessing 151 4.5 N/A
Conservative Ann Conway 134 4.0 −2.8
Independent Stefan Cholenka 35 1.0 −21.7
Majority 9 0.3 N/A
Turnout 3,343 39.0 +3.3
Registered electors 8,567
Reform gain from Labour

Wardle, Shore and West Littleborough

Wardle, Shore and West Littleborough[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Philip Barrett 1,466 40.0 N/A
Conservative Matthew Hargreaves 1,209 33.0 −27.3
Labour Joshua McCarron 451 12.3 −5.3
Green Adam Mir 328 9.0 +1.4
Liberal Democrats Kim Ho 169 4.6 −8.0
Workers Party Laura Pugh 39 1.1 −0.8
Majority 257 7.0 N/A
Turnout 3,662 43.8 +13.1
Registered electors 8,358
Reform gain from Conservative

West Heywood

West Heywood[32]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Stuart Crawford 1,474 49.6 N/A
Labour Angela Brown 921 31.0 −22.0
Green Ethan Towers 215 7.2 N/A
Liberal Democrats Tom Shaw 213 7.2 −11.8
Conservative Adele Anstee 151 5.1 −18.9
Majority 553 18.6 N/A
Turnout 2,974 33.9 +10.2
Registered electors 8,772
Reform gain from Labour

West Middleton

West Middleton[33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Trevor Taylor 936 39.9 N/A
Labour Phil Burke 791 33.7 −16.6
Green Caitlin Furlong 388 16.6 N/A
Conservative Matthew Roughsedge 229 9.8 +2.2
Majority 145 6.2 N/A
Turnout 2,344 29.9 +2.5
Registered electors 7,846
Reform gain from Labour

References

  1. ↑ Elected at the 2024 North Middleton by-election.
  1. ↑ "Rochdale Council Composition: Latest". opencouncildata.co.uk. Open Council Data UK. Archived from the original on 9 February 2026. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  2. ↑ Lythgoe, George (16 August 2024). "Ex-Tory leader quits party as he slams colleagues in scathing statement". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  3. ↑ Murphy, David (18 September 2024). "Middleton set for by-election after MIP Councillor loses his seat". Roch Valley Radio. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  4. ↑ "Local Elections Archive Project — North Middleton Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  5. ↑ Murphy, David; Clark, Adam (18 March 2025). "Elsie Blundell MP Resigns as Councillor for Balderstone and Kirkholt". Roch Valley Radio. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  6. ↑ "Local Elections Archive Project — Balderstone and Kirkholt Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  7. ↑ Lythgoe, George (24 July 2025). "Former Conservative leader in Rochdale joins Reform". Roch Valley Radio. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  8. ↑ "BBC News - Election 2011 - England council elections - Rochdale". BBC News. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  9. ↑ "Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council Election Results 1973-2012" (PDF). Elections Centre. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  10. ↑ Statham, Nick (26 May 2022). "How voters feel about Middleton Independents councillor defecting to Labour". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  11. ↑ Clark, Adam (3 May 2024). "Workers Party gain two Rochdale seats as Labour hold onto council control". Roch Valley Radio. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  12. ↑ The Rochdale (Electoral Changes) Order 2021
  13. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Local Elections Borough - Thursday, 7th May, 2026". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  14. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for Balderstone and Kirkholt". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  15. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for Bamford". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  16. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for Castleton". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  17. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for Central Rochdale". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  18. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for East Middleton". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  19. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for Healey". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  20. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for Hopwood Hall". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  21. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for Kingsway". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  22. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for Littleborough Lakeside". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  23. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for Milkstone and Deeplish". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  24. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for Milnrow and Newhey". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  25. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for Norden". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  26. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for North Heywood". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  27. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for North Middleton". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  28. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for Smallbridge and Firgrove". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  29. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for South Middleton". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  30. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for Spotland and Falinge". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  31. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for Wardle, Shore and West Littleborough". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  32. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for West Heywood". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  33. ↑ "Rochdale Council - Election 2026 - Election results for West Middleton". Rochdale Council. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Rochdale_Metropolitan_Borough_Council_election