The local authorityCouncil · Unitary · England · 1 of 63 unitary authorities

Blackburn with Darwen.

Labour Party-controlled unitary. £194m net revenue. 17 wards across 2 parliamentary constituencies.

TypeUnitary
Seats51 councillors · 17 wards
Last election7 May 2026
Websiteblackburn.gov.uk
Net revenue · 2025-26
£194m
Core spending power (MHCLG)
Band-D bill
£2,337
For the council slice (incl. precepts)
Composition
23/51
Labour Party 45%
Westminster
2
constituencies overlap · 2 MP parties
Dispatch
31 May 2026

Labour Party chamber, 2-party MP geography.

Blackburn with Darwen is a unitary controlled by Labour Party (23 of 51 seats). Net revenue is £194m for 2025-26. It covers 17 wards spanning 2 parliamentary constituencies. The MP geography crosses 2 parties — a heterogeneous setup.

§ 01Composition.51 seats · last contested 7 May 2026

Who sits in the chamber.

Lab 23Ref 9Independent Berwick Hills Resident 8Ind 6Con 5

Labour Party 45% · last contested 7 May 2026

Councillors — the people.

CouncillorWardElected
Aadil ChopdatIndAudley Queens Park2026
Amin KapadiaIndAudley Queens Park2024
Salim SidatLabAudley Queens Park2023
Shakeel ChoudhryIndBastwell Daisyfield2026
Rana KhanIndBastwell Daisyfield2024
Shaukat HussainLabBastwell Daisyfield2023
Tasleem FazalIndBillinge Beardwood2026
Waqar HussainIndBillinge Beardwood2024
Jackie FloydLabBillinge Beardwood2023
Zamir KhanLabBlackburn Central2026
Terri MahmoodIndBlackburn Central2024
Mahfooz HussainLabBlackburn Central2023
Showing 12 of 51·All 51 councillors
§ 02Revenue mix & Band-D bill.MHCLG — Final LGFS 2025-26 Core Spending Power table

Where revenue comes from.

38%
Council tax
£73.6m · median 59%
45%
Central grants
£87.2m · median 30%
17%
Business rates
£32.8m · median 11%

This is a grant-heavy unitary authoritie: 38% from council tax vs the cohort median of 59%.

Source · MHCLG — Final LGFS 2025-26 Core Spending Power table · derived (CT exact; grants/rates split from SFA baseline)

Band-D bill.

Council slice£1,965
County / upper-tier£0
Police£277
Fire & rescue£90
GLA precept£0
Parish average£5
Total Band-D£2,337

Parish precepts apply on top, vary by parish

For household tax breakdown

Use the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings.

§ 03Service spend, ranked against peers.10 buckets · vs 62 other unitary authorities

How does Blackburn with Darwen split its revenue across services, compared with peer unitary authoritie-class councils? Each row is one of the ten standard service buckets. The vertical line at the centre is the cohort median share; the coloured square is where this council sits. Squares to the right of centre mean a bigger share of revenue than the median peer; to the left, a smaller share.

Education41.9% of net spend · cohort median 36%
9 of 61+17% vs median
Adult Social Care23.8% of net spend · cohort median 27%
54 of 61-12% vs median
Children's Services15.0% of net spend · cohort median 15%
29 of 61+2% vs median
Public Health5.1% of net spend · cohort median 4%
14 of 61+40% vs median
Waste & Recycling4.3% of net spend · cohort median 6%
53 of 61-25% vs median
Corporate & Central3.3% of net spend · cohort median 3%
21 of 61+15% vs median
Culture & Leisure2.9% of net spend · cohort median 2%
14 of 61+35% vs median
Planning & Economic Development1.3% of net spend · cohort median 1%
33 of 61-3% vs median
Housing & Homelessness1.3% of net spend · cohort median 2%
47 of 61-33% vs median
Highways & Transport1.0% of net spend · cohort median 3%
54 of 61-63% vs median
How to read these bars

The subtitle on each row (“X% of net spend”) is what share of this council’s revenue goes to that service. The rank (“15 of 61”) is where this council sits within the cohort, sorted by that share descending. The delta (“+26% vs median”) is a relative reading: the council allocates 26% more of its revenue to that service than the median peer would. A small absolute difference can still be a big relative one.

Higher share doesn’t mean waste — it can reflect demographic need (more older residents), rurality, or a policy choice (e.g. keeping a service in-house). Lower share doesn’t mean efficiency — some councils move costs to fees, ringfenced accounts, or grants. £-per-head would be sharper than share-of-revenue; LAD population is pending ingest. Comparisons are within the same council type only.

§ 04Top suppliers.22,062 payments · £88.7m gross · 3 Dec 202527 Feb 2026

Every invoice over £500, published under the Local Government Transparency Code. Best-effort, not statutory — counts and totals net negatives (refunds/reversals).

Top by total — last 180 days

SupplierPaidSharePmts
REDACTED£35.38m39.9%5,806
SEDDON CONSTRUCTION LIMITED£2.05m2.3%9
THE CALICO GROUP LTD£1.69m1.9%9
WITHERSLACK GROUP LIMITED£1.58m1.8%68
NHS LANCASHIRE AND SOUTH CUMBRIA ICB£1.40m1.6%4
CONLON CONSTRUCTION LIMITED£1.10m1.2%5
LIFEWAYS PARAGON LTD£1.06m1.2%235
I CARE GB LIMITED£0.80m0.9%322
CORRECT FLOW ENGINEERING£0.78m0.9%5
BANNER BUSINESS SOLUTIONS LTD£0.78m0.9%139

By service area · top supplier

Service-classified supplier data not yet ingested for this council.

§ 05Westminster constituencies — the overlap.17 wards split across 2 parliamentary seats

Blackburn with Darwen’s territory crosses 2 Westminster constituencies, with 2 MP parties represented. The middle column shows how much of the council each seat carries.

ConstituencyWards% of councilCurrent MP
Blackburn1271% Adnan HussainInd
Rossendale and Darwen529% Andy MacNaeLab
Of note · the mixed-MP geography

This council holds 1 Ind and 1 Ind MPs. That’s an unusually heterogeneous geography for a Labour Party-controlled unitary — most weeks one MP is asking the council for something and another is praising it.

Sources, methods & last update
Method The dispatch paragraphs are AI-generated from the public sources listed below. Every figure links to its source. If we’re wrong, please tell us — corrections within 48 hours.
CompositionDemocracy Club (live)
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (historic)
Net revenueMHCLG Final LGFS
Core Spending Power table · 2025-26
Service spendDerived from MHCLG CSP shares
vs 62 other unitary authorities
Band-DMHCLG CSP · precept schedules
Police, Fire, Parish on top
SuppliersCouncil publication under LGTC
22,062 payments · 3 Dec 202527 Feb 2026
Westminster overlapONS Open Geography Portal
2023 boundaries
PopulationONS mid-year estimates
Pending ingest at LAD level