Bolton
Every election cycle we have data for, most recent first.
Cycles
- 2026 20 races · 20 seats 100.0% below quota
- 2024 20 races · 21 seats 90.5% below quota
- 2023 20 races · 60 seats 0.0% below quota
- 2022 20 races · 20 seats 60.0% below quota
- 2021 20 races · 21 seats 52.4% below quota
- 2019 20 races · 20 seats 50.0% below quota
- 2018 20 races · 21 seats 33.3% below quota
- 2016 20 races · 20 seats 60.0% below quota
Council composition as of 2026
60 councillors, by party. One square per seat. Source: opencouncildata annual snapshot — reflects the council at the end of 2026 (after that year's elections, by-elections and defections). Hover any seat for the party.
Most recent election (2026)
In 2026, 20 seats were up across 20 wards. The table below shows what each party actually won — alongside what they would have won if the 20 seats had been shared in proportion to votes received (how, with caveats). The Δ column is the actual seat count minus the proportional seat count — positive numbers are parties First-Past-the-Post over-represented; negative are parties it under-represented.
| Party | Votes | Vote % | Seats won | % of seats | Proportional seats | Proportional % | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reform UK | 28,105 | 32.6% | 9 | 45.0% | 7 | 35.0% | +2 |
| Labour Party | 16,844 | 19.5% | 2 | 10.0% | 4 | 20.0% | -2 |
| Green Party | 15,210 | 17.6% | 3 | 15.0% | 4 | 20.0% | -1 |
| Conservative Party | 12,433 | 14.4% | 3 | 15.0% | 3 | 15.0% | 0 |
| Liberal Democrats | 6,387 | 7.4% | 1 | 5.0% | 1 | 5.0% | 0 |
| Horwich & Blackrod First Independents | 3,680 | 4.3% | 2 | 10.0% | 1 | 5.0% | +1 |
| Farnworth and Kearsley First Party | 2,753 | 3.2% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 |
| Independent | 679 | 0.8% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 |
| Westhoughton First Independents | 100 | 0.1% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 |
| Advance UK | 71 | 0.1% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 |
| Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition | 40 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 |
| Total | 86,302 | 100.0% | 20 | 100.0% | 20 | 100.0% | 0 |
Vote share vs seats won
The top bar is each party's share of votes cast in this council. Below, one square per seat, coloured by the party that won it — first the actual First-Past-the-Post result, then what a proportional method would have produced from the same vote totals. Divergence between the bar and the actual grid is the indictment of the method.
Full ward-by-ward results for 2026 →
Composition history
One row per opencouncildata annual snapshot — the council at the end of each year (after that year's elections, by-elections and defections). Newest first; hover any seat for the party.
Ward by ward
Each row is a ward, each column a cycle. Each cell shows the top-of-poll candidate's party (swatch) and their share of valid ballots. Wards are matched by name across cycles — boundary reviews can mean a ward of the same name is a slightly different area in a later cycle.
| Ward | 2016 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astley Bridge | 43% | 42% | 39% | 70% | 49% | 55% | 38% | 33% |
| Bradshaw | 51% | 57% | 56% | 69% | 52% | 53% | 41% | 37% |
| Breightmet | 36% | 47% | 40% | 49% | 49% | 48% | 42% | 47% |
| Bromley Cross | 57% | 73% | 63% | 62% | 56% | 55% | 46% | 36% |
| Crompton | 67% | 57% | 51% | 55% | 46% | |||
| Farnworth | 48% | 54% | 53% | 50% | 48% | |||
| Farnworth North | 62% | 33% | 29% | |||||
| Farnworth South | 59% | 43% | 41% | |||||
| Great Lever | 69% | 76% | 52% | 58% | 68% | 65% | 48% | 46% |
| Halliwell | 67% | 70% | 64% | 73% | 74% | 51% | 45% | 42% |
| Harper Green | 49% | 54% | 46% | 45% | 57% | |||
| Heaton and Lostock | 56% | 66% | 54% | 57% | 52% | |||
| Heaton, Lostock and Chew Moor | 51% | 44% | 38% | |||||
| Horwich and Blackrod | 43% | 48% | 37% | 33% | 32% | |||
| Horwich North | 50% | 53% | 39% | |||||
| Horwich North East | 41% | 36% | 38% | 35% | 38% | |||
| Horwich South and Blackrod | 52% | 48% | 44% | |||||
| Hulton | 37% | 50% | 47% | 45% | 44% | 44% | 30% | 43% |
| Kearsley | 45% | 52% | 68% | 52% | 38% | 62% | 50% | 46% |
| Little Lever and Darcy Lever | 39% | 37% | 39% | 43% | 38% | 45% | 38% | 50% |
| Queens Park and Central | 74% | 44% | 35% | |||||
| Rumworth | 72% | 76% | 73% | 64% | 55% | 54% | 48% | 50% |
| Smithills | 51% | 49% | 52% | 44% | 51% | 58% | 46% | 38% |
| Tonge with the Haulgh | 46% | 50% | 42% | 45% | 45% | 59% | 45% | 47% |
| Westhoughton North and Chew Moor | 39% | 43% | 39% | 47% | 43% | |||
| Westhoughton North and Hunger Hill | 37% | 34% | 38% | |||||
| Westhoughton South | 33% | 53% | 33% | 36% | 33% | 39% | 35% | 37% |