Council election · Thursday, 10 December 2026

Bolton Metropolitan Borough: Westhoughton South ward

Name: Bolton Metropolitan Borough: Westhoughton South ward council by-election, 10 December 2026
Start: 2026-12-10T07:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-12-10T22:00:00+00:00
Location: Bolton Metropolitan Borough: Westhoughton South ward

1 person has said they are standing so far, but the list isn't confirmed yet. Polling day is 10 December 2026. Once nominations close, a few weeks before polling day, the council publishes the official list (the Statement of Persons Nominated), and this page updates from it. Everyone who stands then gets the same page, in the order you will see on the ballot paper.

1candidate so far for one seat

0sourced positions

0with something published

0named sources

At the election of Thursday, 7 May 2026, this seat was won by 94 votes (2.1% of votes cast). Past results describe the past; each election is a new contest.

See the candidate In a hurry? Two-minute guide →

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Key datesPolling day in 36 days · register deadline in 20 daysRegister by Tue 24 NovemberPostal vote by Wed 25 November 5pmProxy vote by Wed 2 December 5pmFree voter ID by Wed 2 December 5pmPolls 7am to 10pm · photo ID needed · Find your polling station (Democracy Club; it is also on your poll card)

about these dates

From the election timetable held by Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), which follows the statutory working-day rules.

Official notices, boundaries and data

Nominations not yet confirmed. Candidate data: Democracy Club.

Find your polling station at WhereDoIVote (you enter your postcode there; nothing leaves this page). Official notices: . Accepted photo ID: Electoral Commission list.

The candidate in the order you’ll see them

No. 1Labour Party
Victoria Whittle
“I’m Victoria Whittle, and I’m delighted to have been selected as the Labour candidate for Westhoughton South in the by-election on Thursday 10th December.”
Nothing of their own found yet; their party’s national policy is on their page

In this ward 1 candidate from 1 party or independent slot is standing. Parties do not stand everywhere; here is how to find out whether yours stands nearby.

This is a council seat. A councillor's win changes what the council decides: council tax, housing repairs and allocations, planning, social care, schools admissions, parking, bins, libraries. It does not change national tax, benefits or NHS policy, so this page shows only positions published for this council election, and no national party pledges are implied.

Sourced positions found for 0 of 1 candidate

None of these candidates has published anything of their own that we could source yet. Where a candidate's party has national policy on a topic, that is shown instead, labelled as the party's national policy and not the candidate's own commitment. Every claim that appears carries its source, date and exact quotation; see the public ledger.

Compare candidates side by side

You're voting for

Your local councillor

Councillors sit on the council that runs services where you live. They set the council's budget and council tax, and decide local planning applications. Here, for Bolton Metropolitan Borough: Westhoughton South ward.

What this office decides

Planning. Whether new homes, extensions and developments get permission.
Waste and streets. Bins, recycling, street cleaning, fly-tipping.
Council tax. The level you pay, within limits set nationally.
Social care. In county and unitary councils, care for older and disabled people.
Parks and libraries. Opening, funding, closing.
Council housing. Repairs, allocations and, in many areas, homelessness.

What it does not

NHS policy and waiting times. Parliament and the NHS.
Income tax and benefits. Parliament.
Immigration. Parliament.
Policing policy. The Home Office and your Police and Crime Commissioner or mayor.
Schools' curriculum. Government and, for academies, their trusts.

Candidates often campaign on things their office cannot change. That is not dishonest in itself — an MP can press a council, a councillor can lobby government — but it is worth knowing which is which. Summarised from the Local Government Association and UK Parliament descriptions of each role.

How this vote is counted: first past the post. One cross; the candidate with the most votes wins.Worked example

Every ballot with one cross is counted for that candidate. The one with the most votes wins, even without a majority. Example: A 4,000, B 3,900, C 2,100. A wins with 40% of the vote; the 60% cast for others elect nobody. There are no second preferences; a vote for a candidate who does not win has no further effect.

Hide names and parties while I read

TopicSearch every position on this ballot

Showing 1 of 1 candidate. Everyone on the ballot, in ballot-paper order.

Numbered as on the ballot paper. Open a candidate to see their positions on the ten topics, with sources. Until a household is described, only positions that apply to everyone are counted.

1Victoria Whittle

Labour Party

ShowHide

Published on:MoneyHousingHealth and careEducationEnvironmentTransportImmigrationCrime and policingDefence and the EUEquality and rights

Democracy Club profile Party site

In their own words

I’m Victoria Whittle, and I’m delighted to have been selected as the Labour candidate for Westhoughton South in the by-election on Thursday 10th December.

I’ve lived in Westhoughton all my life, served as Mayoress of both Westhoughton and Bolton, and watched my Dad, David Chadwick, dedicate 30 years to serving our community - so I know what I’m signing up for!

Following my Dad’s passing in September, I want to carry forward his commitment to Westhoughton - protecting our green spaces, fighting for better local healthcare and making sure Westhoughton gets the attention it deserves.

Statement to voters supplied by the candidate to Democracy Club, retrieved 2026-11-04. Reproduced unedited.

Stood before

No previous candidacy on Democracy Club's record. Every candidate has this section.

Record in office

No voting record is shown for any council candidate: councils record votes by name only in limited cases (in England, budget and council tax decisions), and no dataset of them exists. Positions below come from what the candidate and their party have published.

Open Victoria's page →

Where this information comes from

Positions are quoted from the candidate's or party's own published material and official records, each with its source. Where a candidate has given Democracy Club a statement to voters, it is shown word for word. If you are this candidate and something here is wrong, email us and we will check it against the source.

Published positions on the ten topics

What the tags mean

Source: Own wordsSource: ManifestoSource: Leaflet what candidates and parties publish themselves. Source: Public recordSource: Third party a public record, or someone else’s report. Candidate statements and leaflets are published as written; we check they are real, not that they are true.

Money and cost of living

What was done in office

What the record shows Source: Public record

In government, Labour's Budget 2025 removed the two-child limit in Universal Credit in full from April 2026 (relevant to households with children).

In their exact words Source: Public record

The historic decision to remove the two-child limit in full from April 2026 will lift 450,000 children out of poverty - the biggest reduction at any Budget this century.

What this could mean for you

This would apply to you if: there are children.

Sourced: Strong foundations, secure future: a Budget that delivers on the country's priorities (Budget 2025 press release), 26 November 2025

The historic decision to remove the two-child limit in full from April 2026 will lift 450,000 children out of poverty - the biggest reduction at any Budget this century.

, HM Treasury (UK Government), published 26 November 2025. Retrieved 18 September 2026.

1Victoria Whittle

Labour Party

Photos appear only on each candidate's own page, so every candidate looks the same in this list. How much sourced material we found per party · Why isn't my party standing here?

Hustings

No hustings listed yet for this election.

Hustings: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0). Checked hourly.

Last time in this seat: election of Thursday, 7 May 2026

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share
Glen Clarke (elected)	Reform UK	1,644	37.5%
David Wilkinson	Liberal Democrats	1,550	35.3%
Christina Ruth Saunders	Labour Party	455	10.4%
Simon Penhallow	Green Party	306	7%
Colin Higson	Conservative and Unionist Party	276	6.3%
Jack Speight	Westhoughton First Independents	100	2.3%
Richard Adam Bates	Independent	57	1.3%

4,388 valid votes. Result data from Democracy Club (source). Past results describe the past; each election is a new contest.

Life in Bolton Metropolitan Borough: Westhoughton South ward: the official facts

Official open data about the area. It describes the place, not you, and it favours no candidate.

People claiming unemployment-related benefits

270 people in Westhoughton South ward, 3.2% of residents aged 16–64, against 4.1% across England (September 2026).

Claimant count, Office for National Statistics via Nomis (Open Government Licence). It counts people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit while required to seek work; it is not the same as the unemployment rate.

House prices in Bolton

Average price £203,951, up 4.8% on a year earlier (August 2026).

Flats and maisonettes: £117,128
Detached houses: £376,034

Source: HM Land Registry UK House Price Index for the local authority (Open Government Licence). A local-authority average; prices within it vary widely.

Recorded crime nearby, August 2026

0 street-level crimes recorded within about a mile of the area's centre.

Source: data.police.uk (Open Government Licence). Centroid of the ONS 2024 boundary. Statistics near this point describe the area, not any household. Recorded crime reflects reporting and policing as well as offending; see the ONS guidance in further reading.

Life in Bolton Metropolitan Borough: Westhoughton South ward: the official facts

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Go deeper: independent sources

None of these is affiliated with a party. Where a source campaigns for a position, the label says so. Links open the original site.

Cross-cutting: polling, fact-checking, parliamentary research

Commons Library: constituency data dashboards — House of Commons Library. Parliamentary research service, impartial by statute.
electionleaflets.org: archive of election leaflets, searchable by area — Democracy Club. Civic-technology archive; leaflets are the parties' own material.
Electoral Commission: political finance register (donations, loans, spending) — Electoral Commission. Official register.
Full Fact — Full Fact. Independent fact-checking charity.
House of Commons Library research briefings — House of Commons Library. Parliamentary research service, impartial by statute.
Institute for Government — Institute for Government. Independent think tank on how government works.
Ipsos Issues Index: what the public says matters most — Ipsos. Polling company (monthly, unprompted survey).
LG Inform: council performance and finance data — Local Government Association. Sector body for councils.
Local Elections Archive Project: every council result since 2002 — Andrew Teale. Independent archive from Returning Officers' data, CC BY-SA.
mySociety Local Intelligence Hub: data by constituency — mySociety. Civic-technology charity; non-partisan.
UK Parliament: Commons votes (every division, how each MP voted) — UK Parliament. Official record, Open Parliament Licence.
UK Parliament: petitions, with signatures by constituency — UK Parliament. Official record.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Bolton Metropolitan Borough: Westhoughton South ward

The candidate in the order you’ll see them

Victoria Whittle

Your local councillor

What this office decides

What it does not

Everyone on one page

1Victoria Whittle

In their own words

Stood before

Record in office

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the ten topics

Money and cost of living

1Victoria Whittle

Hustings

Life in Bolton Metropolitan Borough: Westhoughton South ward: the official facts

People claiming unemployment-related benefits

House prices in Bolton

Recorded crime nearby, August 2026

Life in Bolton Metropolitan Borough: Westhoughton South ward: the official facts

Go deeper: independent sources

1Victoria Whittle

In their own words

Stood before

Record in office

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the ten topics

Money and cost of living

Hustings

Housing and property

Healthcare and social care

Education and universities

Environment, climate and energy

Transport and roads

Immigration and borders

Crime, policing and justice

Defence, foreign affairs and the EU

Equality and rights

Life in Bolton Metropolitan Borough: Westhoughton South ward: the official facts

People claiming unemployment-related benefits

House prices in Bolton

Recorded crime nearby, August 2026