THURSDAY’S local elections saw Labour hold its four key East Lancashire councils but the Tories win back overall control of Pendle borough for the first time since 1979.

Blackburn with Darwen, fought on new ward boundaries, saw Labour consolidate its stranglehold on the council with 37 councillors.

The Conservatives had a disappointing day, notching up 13 while the Liberal Democrats dropped to just one representative, Cllr Roy Davies, in the new Darwen East.

Labour also held Hyndburn, Burnley and Rossendale comfortably.

Pendle was the chink of light for the Conservatives as a net gain of one seat combined with the return of suspended councillor Rosemary Carroll gave them a slim majority of one over Labour and the Liberal Democrats, who had run the borough in a coalition for three years.

A highlight for Labour was the election of Blackburn with Darwen’s first two female councillors of South Asian heritage Saima Afzal and Maryam Batan.

But executive member Arshid Mahmood failed in his bid for election in the new Billinge and Beardwood ward which returned two Labour councillors and one Tory, Julie Daley.

Hyndburn saw seven Labour councillors and four Conservatives elected.

The big shock was the defeat of Labour cabinet member Ken Moss in Rishton by Michael Miller, one of two Tory gains.

Former UKIP councillor Malcolm Pritchard, standing as an Independent, was ousted in Milnshaw ward by Labour’s Andrew Clegg.

The second Conservative gain saw former borough mayor Marlene Haworth win back St Oswald’s, formerly held by the late UKIP councillor Paul Thompson, by just 17 votes from Labour.

Sara Britcliffe held St Andrew’s ward for the Conservatives, a seat vacated by her father Peter after more than 33 years on Hyndburn Council.

Burnley saw Labour keep its firm grip on power as it won seven out of 15 wards up for election.

The Conservatives won two and the Liberal Democrats three with former MP Gordon Birtwistle holding Coal Clough and Deerplay.

The shocks of the count were victories for Green Party candidate Andrew Fewings in Trinity ward and UKIP’s Tom Commis in Hapton with Park.

The Burnley and Padiham Independent Party gained one of the seven seats they contested with a victory for Neil Mottershead in Gannow ward.

The Liberal Democrats lost one seat overall in Burnley.

Pendle saw the election of 19-year-old Tom Whipp in Barnoldswick’s Coates ward in Pendle -a rare gain for the LibDems.

He joins his father David on the council after he held his Craven ward for the party.

This left the LibDems with nine representatives on Pendle Council - unchanged by Thursday’s voting as their candidate David Clegg lost Vivary Bridge to Conservative candidate Victoria Fletcher.

Labour held onto all its wards to stay at 15 councillors.

But with the Conservatives gaining Marsden ward after the retirement of the BNP’s Brian Parker, they took control of Pendle as Earby’s Cllr Carroll, suspended in August last year over sharing a ‘racist’ joke on Facebook, was readmitted to the party after ‘diversity training’.

In Rossendale, Labour kept control after losing one councillor and a scare for their leader Alyson Barnes, who held Goodshaw ward by just 39 votes.

Hyndburn Labour MP Graham Jones said: “Overall it was steady performance for Labour.

“We held our key councils of Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn, Burnley and Rossendale.

“The public were clearly happy with the way we are running them.

“Pendle was the disappointing exception to this reasonable day.”

Rossendale and Darwen Conservative MP and Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry said: “The highlight was undoubtedly regaining control of Pendle.

“Burnley and Hyndburn were clearly a disappointment for us.

“We made good progress in Darwen, getting nine of the 15 councillors in the town elected.

“The Conservatives also made progress in Rossendale, cutting several Labour majorities.”

Blackburn MP Kate Hollern, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s Private Parliamentary Secretary, said: “I am really pleased at the results especially the election of Saima Afzal and Maryam Batan.”

Pendle Conservative MP Andrew Stephenson celebrated on Twitter remarking: “We have just won a council we didn’t even win under Margaret Thatcher.”