Local elections took place across Wigan Borough on Thursday, 7 May 2026.
One third of the council seats were up for grabs, with one out of the three seats in each ward being contested, including in Lowton East and Golborne and Lowton West.
In total, that was 25 seats out of the total 75 on Wigan Council, which before the elections was dominated by Labour, who held 62 of those.
But results overnight have dramatically changed that picture: all but one of the 25 seats contested yesterday were won by Reform. This includes in our two wards of Lowton East and Golborne and Lowton West, where incumbent councillors Garry Lloyd and Gena Merrett, both Labour, lost their seats.
The victorious candidates were Reform’s Simon Smith in Lowton East and Susan Frame in Golborne and Lowton West.
In both our wards, turnout was significantly up compared to the most recent local elections in 2024. Turnout in Lowton East was 44.78% this year, compared to 36.1% in 2024; in Golborne & Lowton West 37.03% of the electorate cast their votes, compared to just 26.9% last time.
In Golborne and Lowton West, Susan Frame’s victory for Reform overturns the huge majority that Labour enjoyed in the ward in 2024, when they got 1,152 more votes than their nearest rival. Last night Labour’s Gena Merrett was beaten into second place by Reform, who gained a total of 1478 votes (353 more than Labour, who got 1,125). This was very much a head-to-head between Reform and Labour, with three other candidates barely making a dent in the results (Conservative gained 310 votes; Green Party 281 and Leigh and Atherton Independent candidate Richard Scott got 228).
In Lowton East, Labour were beaten into third place, with Simon Smith of Reform getting the support of 1,817 voters. There was a strong performance by Conservative party candidate and former councillor, Kath Houlton, who came second with 1,508, putting Labour’s Garry Lloyd into third with 1,238. Green Party candidate Julie Shawcross took just 506 votes.
What do these results mean?
Before the elections, both Lowton East and Golborne and Lowton West were represented by all Labour candidates. These results mean both wards now have 2 Labour councillors and 1 Reform councillor.
But whilst Reform took all but one of the available seats being contested across Wigan borough, it is not enough to give them overall control of Wigan Council, where Labour still hold the majority of the seats (42 out of 75) – but Reform are now the second largest party on the council, with 25 councillors. The remaining 8 councillors are either Independent councillors (5), or part of the Independent Network (3).
You can take a look at the full results from across Wigan Borough on the council’s website here.
What this will all mean for our local politics moving forward, we do not yet know.
Here’s the results in full:
Local election results in Lowton East
- Kathleen Houlton – Conservative: 1,508
- Garry Lloyd – Labour: 1,238
- Julie Shawcross – Green Party: 506
- Simon Smith – Reform UK: 1,817 (Elected)
Turnout: 44.78%
Local election results in Golborne and Lowton West
- Susan Frame – Reform UK: 1,478 (Elected)
- Kathryn Godfrey – Green Party: 281
- Edward Houlton – Conservative Party: 310
- Gena Merrett – Labour and Co-Operative Party: 1,125
- Richard Scott – Leigh and Atherton Independent: 228
Turnout: 37.03%