Campaigning steps up before Lancashire's elections

Campaigning is well under way in seven parts of Lancashire ahead of next month's local council elections.

People living in Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Chorley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Preston and West Lancashire will all go to the polls on 7 May.

There had been some confusion about this year's elections - all seven councils had asked to postpone them and all but Pendle were given permission. Then Pendle was also told it could postpone. And then all were told the elections would go ahead.

This could be the last time these councils hold elections since all 15 Lancashire local authorities are about to be scrapped and replaced with new councils. Elections for these are expected next year.

The government had approved delays in the ballots after arguing that some councils were worried about their capacity to hold them while preparing for the major reorganisation of local government.

Opposition parties objected though and the goverment changed course following legal advice.

Political historian Dr Matt Cole from Lancaster University said all this has "happened in an unusually disrupted way" and that it is "unusual for [elections] to be suspended".

He said: "The closest thing I can think to this election is the 2019 European elections which we held only a few months away from leaving the European Union, but we were bound to hold them and they polarised public opinion."

All seven councils are up by a third this time.

For most councils it means one seat in every ward.

Five of these councils are Labour-run while the other two are under no overall control.

Cole thinks the results will be interesting.

"In the 'no overall control' councils it's possible that a good performance by one party - particularly one of the ones that's already well represented - could change things or a sudden drop in the support of one party could make it possible for the others to take control from them.

"In the councils where there's a large Labour majority or a sizeable control by any other party then it's going to be unlikely that a third of the seats will make a big difference."

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