Photo: Robert Wade · CC BY-SA 2.0Labour holds a majority on Rossendale Borough Council
Bacup is run by Rossendale Borough Council and Lancashire County Council. Labour has a majority on Rossendale Borough Council. Reform UK has a majority on Lancashire County Council. Its MP is Andy MacNae (Labour), member for Rossendale and Darwen.
£2,516
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Bacup’s politics has changed since 2021
A majority on Rossendale Borough Council
Labour holds a majority on Rossendale Borough Council: 19 of its 30 seats as elected. The Conservatives hold 5, the Greens 4, Reform UK 1 and Community First 1. Who’s in charge ↓
Lancashire changed hands in 2025
Lancashire County Council, which runs schools, social care and roads, went from a Conservative majority (47 of 84 seats in 2021) to a Reform UK majority at the May 2025 election: Reform UK won 53 of 84 seats. Lancashire ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Bacup is £2,516 for 2026–27; Rossendale Borough Council keeps 13% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 52% in ten years, against England’s 56%. Council money ↓
Written from the data on this page: Democracy Club results since May 2021, the UK Parliament Members API and MHCLG council tax.
Who holds the seats on Bacup’s councils
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 16 of Rossendale’s 30 or 43 of Lancashire’s 84 seats to run the council alone.
- Labour19
- Conservative5
- Green4
- Community First1
- Reform UK1
Latest election: May 2024.
- Reform UK53+53
- Conservative8−39
- Independent7+7
- Labour5−28
- Liberal Democrat5+3
- Green4+2
- Our West Lancashire2+2
Change against the council before the 1 May 2025 election.
Seats are counted from election results: each ward’s most recent winners until its seats are filled. Councillors who have since changed party or resigned aren’t reflected, and which parties lead the council, and who is leader, comes from the council itself.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), elections since May 2021; seats per ward from its EveryElection.
Two tiers of council, no parish tier
Bacup has two tiers of council: the county runs the big services, the district the local ones.
Bins and recycling, planning, housing, environmental health, leisure, and collecting council tax.
Website ↗Schools, social care, roads and transport, libraries and waste disposal.
Website ↗Transport, skills and regeneration across several council areas.
Who to ask
From GOV.UK’s “Understand how your council works”: in two-tier areas the district or borough runs local services and the county the big ones.
All of Bacup is unparished: there is no parish or town council, so the council runs local matters itself and no parish precept is added to the bill.
Councils from ONS lookups (wards and councils May 2026, parishes 2025), names and websites from GOV.UK’s local council finder; parish councils from MHCLG’s 2026–27 list of precepting parishes.
From the council to Westminster
Every elected tier that speaks for Bacup, from the most recent elections.
- 1Rossendale Borough Council3 wards · 9 councillorsLabour 6 · Green 3 · all 9
- 2Lancashire County Council1 division · 1 councillorMackenzie Lee Ritson
- 3Police and crime commissionerLancashire Constabulary · elected May 2024Clive Grunshaw
- 4House of CommonsRossendale and Darwen
Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own. Tap an MP’s name for their contact page on parliament.uk.
9 councillors for 3 wards
Wards with at least 2% of the town’s residents, or half their own inside it. Each shows who won its most recent elections, newest first, until its seats are filled.
- Andrew WalmsleyLabour · May 2024
- Danielle AshworthLabour · May 2024
- Michelle Christianne SmithLabour · May 2024
- Judith DriverLabour · May 2024
- Jimmy EatonLabour · May 2024
- David HancockLabour · May 2024
- Julie AdsheadGreen · May 2024
- Bob BauldGreen · May 2024
- John PayneGreen · May 2024
Show as a table, with Lancashire County Council’s 1 division (1 councillor)
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Britannia & Lee Millmostly in Bacup · 5,596 residents3 seats · May 2024 | 3 | Andrew WalmsleyDanielle AshworthMichelle Christianne Smith | May 2024 |
| Bacupmostly in Bacup · 5,013 residents3 seats · May 2024 | 3 | Judith DriverJimmy EatonDavid Hancock | May 2024 |
| Whitewell & Stacksteads39% in Bacup · 2,950 residents3 seats · May 2024 | 3 | Julie AdsheadBob BauldJohn Payne | May 2024 |
Lancashire County Council: county divisions
| Division | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rossendale East ED48% in Bacup · 13,559 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | Mackenzie Lee Ritson | May 2025 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Rossendale Borough Council’s website lists who sits now.
Results from Democracy Club’s candidates database (CC BY 4.0; elections since May 2021) and ward seats from its EveryElection, matched to ONS wards (May 2026) and county divisions (May 2025).
Rossendale council election, May 2024
Results in the wards that make up Bacup, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
3 wards voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.
No election is scheduled yet for Bacup’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗3,183 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
3,346 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
4,605 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Bacup is in Rossendale and Darwen constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Bacup).
44,618 votes for candidates · majority 5,628
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 44,618 votes from 74,440 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 5,628 of 44,618 votes (12.6%): the 244th-narrowest of 543 in England.
MPs and results: UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0); constituencies from ONS (2024 boundaries). Percentages are of valid votes; turnout is votes cast over the electorate.
Bacup’s Band D council tax is £2,516 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Rossendale Borough Council keeps £327.16 of a Band D bill (13%); the rest goes to Lancashire County Council, the Lancashire police and crime commissioner and the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Authority.
Band D since 1993
Rossendale’s Band D bill has risen 52% in ten years, from £1,658.51 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £670.50 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in the unparished part of Rossendale, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
Lancashire’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included; the 11 nearest of 14. Bars start at £2,200.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with Lancashire
| Rossendale + Lancashire | Bacup’s councils | Lancashire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £522 | £533 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £249 | £295 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £48 | £44 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £7 | £24 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £128 | £135 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £39 | £56 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £32 | £16 | £26 |
| Public health | £78 | £92 | £78 |
| Running the council | £93 | £73 | £59 |
| Other | £27 | £13 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,223 | £1,281 | £1,234 |
Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Both tiers added: Rossendale per its residents plus Lancashire per the county’s. Schools are left out: academies are paid for directly by government, so council school budgets depend on how many schools have converted. Lancashire and England: all their councils together. Police, fire and transport authorities aren’t included.
Band D: MHCLG Band D council tax 2026–27 (each authority’s own figure, excluding parish precepts) and Council Tax statistics for town and parish councils 2026–27; since 1993–94, MHCLG’s area averages including parishes.
Having a say in how Bacup is run
It takes about five minutes online; the deadline is 12 working days before a poll.
gov.uk ↗Type a postcode to write to each of its councillors and its MP.
WriteToThem ↗GOV.UK sends the report to the council that looks after the road.
gov.uk ↗Council and committee meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.
rossendale.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
rossendale.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Bacup is run
Which council runs Bacup?
The county council runs schools, social care and roads; the district runs bins, planning and housing.
Does Bacup have a town council?
No. Bacup is unparished, so there is no town or parish council and no parish precept.
Who is the MP for Bacup?
Andy MacNae (Labour) is the MP for Rossendale and Darwen, which covers Bacup.
How many councillors does Bacup have?
9 ward councillors represent Bacup’s 3 wards, and 1 county councillors its county divisions.
When are the next elections in Bacup?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Bacup’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Bacup?
Band D council tax in Bacup is £2,516 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Rossendale Borough Council?
Labour has a majority: 19 of 30 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who controls Lancashire County Council?
Reform UK has a majority: 53 of 84 seats as elected.
Who won the 2024 council election in Bacup?
In Bacup’s wards on 2 May 2024, Labour 6 · Green 3 of the 9 seats up. Labour had the largest share of votes, 50.1%.
Sources: ONS ward, county division, parish, constituency lookups (Census 2021 output areas; Open Government Licence v3.0) · GOV.UK local council finder · Democracy Club candidates (CC BY 4.0) and EveryElection · UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0) · MHCLG Band D council tax, parish precepts and Revenue Account budgets 2026–27 (OGL v3.0) · ONS mid-2025 population estimates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.