Phil Riley will take up the role as leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council following his selection as Labour leader.

The Roe Lee councillor who was re-elected on Thursday will take over from Mohammed Khan who retired as a councillor this month.

Cllr Riley was officially confirmed as the new leader at a local Labour party meeting last night (Friday May 6).

Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph Cllr Riley said: “I am honoured to be that my Labour colleagues have put their trust in me and also honoured to be following in the footsteps of Councillor Khan.”

Cllr Riley became a councillor in 2011 and went on to become Deputy Leader of the Council in 2015. He had been a Secretary with the local Labour Party since 1983 and was agent to Blackburn MP’s Jack Straw and Kate Hollern.

Cllr Riley said he was hoping that the coming decade would see the borough continue to attract new investment something he had been instrumental in developing in his role as Executive Member for Growth and Development.

He said: “It is important to keep the growing Blackburn with Darwen and working with the community and businesses to achieve this.

“Among other things we will see the Draft Local Plan come to fruition and to bring prosperity to all the residents of the borough.

“We see the recent election results as a vote of confidence in the way the council has been run and the changes we have made.

“However, we do recognise that we may have to face financial circumstances, out of local government’s control. We will help and assist as much as we can to meet any challenges.”

Cllr Khan had been a councillor in Blackburn since 1992 and leader since 2015.

Mohammed Khan said: “I leave the Labour group and the council in good hands. With the cost of living crisis and the hangover from Covid the new leader will have a difficult task.”

Labour consolidated their control of Blackburn with Darwen Council at Thursday’s election. They gained one extra seat and also saw two new councillors follow in their parents' political footsteps.

Elaine Whittingham succeeded her retiring mother Maureen Bateson in the Ewood ward, and Sonia Khan won Little Harwood and Whitebirk for Labour as her father Zamir held Blackburn Central.