# Borough of Pendle

Pendle is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The council is based in Nelson, the borough's largest town. The borough also includes the towns of Barnoldswick, Brierfield, Colne and Earby along with the surrounding villages and rural areas. Part of the borough lies within the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The neighbouring districts are Burnley, Ribble Valley, North Yorkshire, Bradford and Calderdale.

## Etymology

The name Pendle comes from "Penhill", combining the Cumbric "pen" meaning hill and the Saxon "hill", also meaning hill. The name was used for Pendle Hill (literally "hill hill hill"), a prominent outlier of the Pennines. The name was then also used for the ancient Forest of Pendle around the hill, and for Pendle Water, a river which rises on the hill and flows into the River Calder. The name also became associated with the Pendle witches, tried for witchcraft in 1612, as the accused were all from the area.

## History

The modern local government district of Pendle was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. It covered the whole area of seven former districts and parts of another two, all of which were abolished at the same time:
* Barnoldswick Urban District
* Barrowford Urban District
* Brierfield
* Burnley Rural District (part)
* Colne Municipal Borough
* Earby Urban District
* Nelson Municipal Borough
* Skipton Rural District (part)
* Trawden Urban District
The Barnoldswick, Earby and Skipton elements were in the West Riding of Yorkshire prior to 1974. The term West Craven is often used for the area transferred from Yorkshire to Lancashire in 1974. The new district was named Pendle after the hill, forest and river. The district was awarded borough status on 15 September 1976, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.

## Governance

Pendle Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Lancashire County Council. The whole borough is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.
In March 2013, Brian Cookson retired from his position as Executive Director for Regeneration, a post he had held for nine years, in parallel with that of President of British Cycling from 2007 onwards. He subsequently became the President of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world governing body for sports cycling from 2013-2017.
In June 2017, a Conservative councilor, Rosemary Carroll, was suspended after sending a racist post on social media comparing Asians to dogs. This controversy expanded after the local elections in 2018, when the councilor was readmitted into the Conservative Party, allowing the Conservative party to gain a majority on the council. The Pendle Labour party accused the Pendle Conservative Party of condoning racism after the reinstatement. The Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, Dawn Butler, called upon the Conservative Party Chairman, Brandon Lewis, to issue a statement saying that the councillor in question would not be part of the Conservative group on the council. This followed a statement from Lewis congratulating the Pendle Conservatives on winning a majority on the council.
In April 2024, all of Labour’s 11 borough councillors in Pendle, including the leader of the council, quit the party.

### Political control

The council has been under no overall control since the 2023 election. A coalition of Labour and Liberal Democrat formed to run the council after that election. Following the Labour group all leaving their party, the coalition became an independent and Liberal Democrat coalition in April 2024.
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:
| Party in control | Years |
| No overall control | 1974–1976 |
| Conservative | 1976–1979 |
| No overall control | 1979–1987 |
| Liberal Democrats | 1987–1990 |
| No overall control | 1990–1991 |
| Labour | 1991–1994 |
| No overall control | 1994–1995 |
| Liberal Democrats | 1995–1999 |
| No overall control | 1999–2004 |
| Liberal Democrats | 2004–2008 |
| No overall control | 2008–2018 |
| Conservative | 2018–2019 |
| No overall control | 2019–2021 |
| Conservative | 2021–2023 |
| No overall control | 2023–present |

### Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Pendle. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2015 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To |
| Joe Cooney | Conservative | | 2015 |
| Mohammed Iqbal | Labour | 2015 | 17 May 2018 |
| Paul White | Conservative | 17 May 2018 | 5 May 2019 |
| Mohammed Iqbal | Labour | 16 May 2019 | 20 May 2021 |
| Nadeem Ahmed | Conservative | 20 May 2021 | 18 May 2023 |
| Asjad Mahmood | Labour | 18 May 2023 | 1 Apr 2024 |
| Asjad Mahmood | Independent | 1 Apr 2024 | |

### Composition

Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was:
| Party | Party | Councillors |
| | Conservative | 13 |
| | Independent | 12 |
| | Liberal Democrats | 8 |
| Total | Total | 33 |
Ten of the independent councillors sit together as the 'Independent Group', which forms the council's administration with the Liberal Democrats. The other two independents do not form part of a group. The next election is due in 2026.

### Premises

The council meets at Nelson Town Hall on Market Street in the centre of Nelson, which had been completed in 1881 for the old Nelson Local Board, predecessor of the Nelson Borough Council created in 1890. It has its main administrative offices in a modern building at Number One Market Street, opposite the town hall.

## Elections

Since the last full review of boundaries took effect in 2021 the council has comprised 33 councillors representing 12 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with roughly a third of the council being elected each time for a four-year term. Lancashire County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections.

### Councillors

Following the 2023 election, the councillors were:
| Ward | Name | Party |
| Barnoldswick | Tom Whipp | Liberal Democrats |
| Barnoldswick | Chris Church | Liberal Democrats |
| Barnoldswick | Mick Strickland | Liberal Democrats |
| Barrowford and Pendleside | Martyn Stone | Conservative |
| Barrowford and Pendleside | Nadeem Ahmed | Conservative |
| Barrowford and Pendleside | David Gallear | Conservative |
| Boulsworth and Foulridge | Sarah Cockburn-Price | Conservative |
| Boulsworth and Foulridge | David Cockburn-Price | Conservative |
| Boulsworth and Foulridge | Kevin Salter | Conservative |
| Bradley | Mohammad Aslam | Conservative |
| Bradley | Mohammed Iqbal | Independent |
| Bradley | Mohammad Kaleem | Conservative |
| Brierfield East and Clover Hill | Naeem Hussain Ashraf | Labour |
| Brierfield East and Clover Hill | Sajjad Ahmed | Labour |
| Brierfield East and Clover Hill | Zafar Ali | Labour |
| Brierfield West and Reedley | Mohammad Hanif | Labour |
| Brierfield West and Reedley | Yasser Iqbal | Labour |
| Earby and Coates | Susan Land | Liberal Democrats |
| Earby and Coates | Rosemary Carroll | Conservative |
| Earby and Coates | David Whipp | Liberal Democrats |
| Fence and Higham | Brian Newman | Liberal Democrats |
| Marsden and Southfield | Yvonne Tennant | Labour |
| Marsden and Southfield | Mohammed Adnan | Labour |
| Marsden and Southfield | Mohammed Ammer | Labour |
| Vivary Bridge | Kieran McGladdery | Conservative |
| Vivary Bridge | Tom Ormerod | Conservative |
| Vivary Bridge | David Albin | Conservative |
| Waterside and Horsfield | Neil Butterworth | Conservative |
| Waterside and Horsfield | Dorothy Lord | Liberal Democrats |
| Waterside and Horsfield | Ash Sutcliffe | Conservative |
| Whitefield and Walverden | Faraz Ahmad | Labour |
| Whitefield and Walverden | Ruby Anwar | Labour |
| Whitefield and Walverden | Asjad Mahmood | Labour |

### Wider politics

The Pendle constituency was represented in Parliament by the Conservative Member of Parliament, Andrew Stephenson, from 2010-2024.
From the 2024 General Election, the constituency no longer covers the same area as the borough and is now represented by two MPs, Jonathan Hinder the Labour member for Pendle and Clitheroe and Oliver David Ryan the MP for Burnley, whose constituency includes parts of Reedley and Brierfield, which are in Pendle.

## Economy

The three main employers in the borough are Rolls-Royce plc, Silentnight and the Daisy Group.

## Media

In terms of television, the area is served by BBC North West and ITV Granada which broadcast from Salford. Television signals are received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter and the local relay TV transmitter located in the Forest of Pendle. A small part of the borough around Barnoldswick and Earby is served by BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire broadcasting from Leeds. This area is served by a local transmitter in Skipton which is relayed from the Emley Moor TV transmitter.
Radio stations for the area are:
* BBC Radio Lancashire
* Heart North West
* Capital Manchester and Lancashire (formerly 2BR)
* Greatest Hits Radio Lancashire
* Smooth North West
* Pendle Community Radio, the borough's local community based station which broadcast from its studios in Nelson.
The area is served by the regional newspaper, Lancashire Telegraph. Other local newspapers include Pendle Express and The Nelson Leader.

## Places in Pendle

The borough is entirely covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Barnoldswick, Brierfield, Colne, Earby and Nelson take the style "town council".
| Contemporary civil parish | Map ref | Medieval jurisdiction | Medieval jurisdiction | Early modern jurisdiction |
| Barley-with-Wheatley Booth | 1 | Pendle Forest, manor of Ightenhill | Forest of Blackburnshire | Whalley, Lancashire: once a much larger parish than today. It encompassed a large part of eastern Lancashire. It also included areas outside Pendle. |
| Barrowford | 3 | Pendle Forest, manor of Ightenhill | Forest of Blackburnshire | Whalley, Lancashire: once a much larger parish than today. It encompassed a large part of eastern Lancashire. It also included areas outside Pendle. |
| Blacko | 4 | Pendle Forest, manor of Ightenhill | Forest of Blackburnshire | Whalley, Lancashire: once a much larger parish than today. It encompassed a large part of eastern Lancashire. It also included areas outside Pendle. |
| Old Laund Booth | 15 | Pendle Forest, manor of Ightenhill | Forest of Blackburnshire | Whalley, Lancashire: once a much larger parish than today. It encompassed a large part of eastern Lancashire. It also included areas outside Pendle. |
| Goldshaw Booth | 10 | Pendle Forest, manor of Ightenhill | Forest of Blackburnshire | Whalley, Lancashire: once a much larger parish than today. It encompassed a large part of eastern Lancashire. It also included areas outside Pendle. |
| Reedley Hallows | 16 | Pendle Forest, manor of Ightenhill | Forest of Blackburnshire | Whalley, Lancashire: once a much larger parish than today. It encompassed a large part of eastern Lancashire. It also included areas outside Pendle. |
| Roughlee Booth | 17 | Pendle Forest, manor of Ightenhill | Forest of Blackburnshire | Whalley, Lancashire: once a much larger parish than today. It encompassed a large part of eastern Lancashire. It also included areas outside Pendle. |
| Higham-with-West Close Booth | 11 | Pendle Forest, manor of Ightenhill | Forest of Blackburnshire | Whalley, Lancashire: once a much larger parish than today. It encompassed a large part of eastern Lancashire. It also included areas outside Pendle. |
| Trawden Forest | 19 | Trawden Forest, manor of Colne | Forest of Blackburnshire | Whalley, Lancashire: once a much larger parish than today. It encompassed a large part of eastern Lancashire. It also included areas outside Pendle. |
| Nelson | 14 | manor of Ightenhill, not in Forest | Blackburnshire, not in Forest | Whalley, Lancashire: once a much larger parish than today. It encompassed a large part of eastern Lancashire. It also included areas outside Pendle. |
| Brierfield | 6 | manor of Ightenhill, not in Forest | Blackburnshire, not in Forest | Whalley, Lancashire: once a much larger parish than today. It encompassed a large part of eastern Lancashire. It also included areas outside Pendle. |
| Colne | 7 | manor of Colne, not in Forest | Blackburnshire, not in Forest | Whalley, Lancashire: once a much larger parish than today. It encompassed a large part of eastern Lancashire. It also included areas outside Pendle. |
| Foulridge | 9 | manor of Colne, not in Forest | Blackburnshire, not in Forest | Whalley, Lancashire: once a much larger parish than today. It encompassed a large part of eastern Lancashire. It also included areas outside Pendle. |
| Laneshaw Bridge | 13 | manor of Colne, not in Forest | Blackburnshire, not in Forest | Whalley, Lancashire: once a much larger parish than today. It encompassed a large part of eastern Lancashire. It also included areas outside Pendle. |
| Barnoldswick | 2 | Now referred to as "West Craven". This is a part of Lancashire, which was once in the neighbouring West Riding of Yorkshire. (Within the Wapentake of Staincliffe, Deanery of Craven.) | Now referred to as "West Craven". This is a part of Lancashire, which was once in the neighbouring West Riding of Yorkshire. (Within the Wapentake of Staincliffe, Deanery of Craven.) | Now referred to as "West Craven". This is a part of Lancashire, which was once in the neighbouring West Riding of Yorkshire. (Within the Wapentake of Staincliffe, Deanery of Craven.) |
| Bracewell and Brogden | 5 | Now referred to as "West Craven". This is a part of Lancashire, which was once in the neighbouring West Riding of Yorkshire. (Within the Wapentake of Staincliffe, Deanery of Craven.) | Now referred to as "West Craven". This is a part of Lancashire, which was once in the neighbouring West Riding of Yorkshire. (Within the Wapentake of Staincliffe, Deanery of Craven.) | Now referred to as "West Craven". This is a part of Lancashire, which was once in the neighbouring West Riding of Yorkshire. (Within the Wapentake of Staincliffe, Deanery of Craven.) |
| Salterforth | 8 | Now referred to as "West Craven". This is a part of Lancashire, which was once in the neighbouring West Riding of Yorkshire. (Within the Wapentake of Staincliffe, Deanery of Craven.) | Now referred to as "West Craven". This is a part of Lancashire, which was once in the neighbouring West Riding of Yorkshire. (Within the Wapentake of Staincliffe, Deanery of Craven.) | Now referred to as "West Craven". This is a part of Lancashire, which was once in the neighbouring West Riding of Yorkshire. (Within the Wapentake of Staincliffe, Deanery of Craven.) |
| Kelbrook and Sough | 12 | Now referred to as "West Craven". This is a part of Lancashire, which was once in the neighbouring West Riding of Yorkshire. (Within the Wapentake of Staincliffe, Deanery of Craven.) | Now referred to as "West Craven". This is a part of Lancashire, which was once in the neighbouring West Riding of Yorkshire. (Within the Wapentake of Staincliffe, Deanery of Craven.) | Now referred to as "West Craven". This is a part of Lancashire, which was once in the neighbouring West Riding of Yorkshire. (Within the Wapentake of Staincliffe, Deanery of Craven.) |
| Earby | 18 | Now referred to as "West Craven". This is a part of Lancashire, which was once in the neighbouring West Riding of Yorkshire. (Within the Wapentake of Staincliffe, Deanery of Craven.) | Now referred to as "West Craven". This is a part of Lancashire, which was once in the neighbouring West Riding of Yorkshire. (Within the Wapentake of Staincliffe, Deanery of Craven.) | Now referred to as "West Craven". This is a part of Lancashire, which was once in the neighbouring West Riding of Yorkshire. (Within the Wapentake of Staincliffe, Deanery of Craven.) |

## Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Pendle.

### Individuals

* Steven Burke: 3 August 2012.

### Military Units

* The Queen's Lancashire Regiment: 2001.
* The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: 1 July 2006.