How Teller Helped Hold a Key Seat in the Burnley Borough Elections 2026
The May 2026 local elections across England were dominated by strong gains from Reform UK, who swept many council seats that had looked secure for years. Against that challenging national backdrop, holding any seat in a competitive ward was a genuine achievement — and in Burnley’s Coalclough with Deerplay ward, our Teller app played its part in doing exactly that.
Teller’s First Real Election
Teller has been in development throughout 2025 and into 2026, and the Burnley Borough elections on 7th May 2026 gave us the opportunity to put it to work in a live election for the very first time. The Liberal Democrat campaign team in Coalclough with Deerplay used Teller on polling day to manage their teller operations and get out the vote effort.
The ward had been canvassed in the weeks beforehand, with voter intentions recorded in the app using Teller’s General Canvass mode. On election day, the Polling Day Teller and GOTV modes came into their own.
As voters arrived at the polling station, tellers confirmed them in the app with a single tap. The GOTV report updated automatically throughout the day, showing the knocking-up team exactly which known supporters had not yet voted — no paper teller slips, no phone calls back to headquarters, no guesswork.
That real-time visibility meant the knocking-up team could focus their effort precisely — not wasting time on doors where the voter had already been in, and prioritising the supporters who still needed encouragement to get to the polls.
A majority of just 82 votes. In a ward like this, every single knock on the right door counted.
The Result
The result in Coalclough with Deerplay was closer than anyone would have liked — but the seat held:
Coalclough with Deerplay — Burnley Borough Council, 7 May 2026
Electorate: 4,082 · Ballot papers issued: 1,684 · Turnout: 41.3% · Rejected: 2
Across Burnley Borough
The wider Burnley results reflected the national Reform surge. Reform UK took seats across the borough, with particularly strong results in Briercliffe (1,003 votes), Cliviger with Worsthorne (1,215 votes) and Whittlefield with Ightenhill (1,017 votes). It was a difficult night for many parties — which makes holding Coalclough with Deerplay all the more satisfying.
What We Learned
Using Teller in a live election gave us invaluable feedback that will go directly into the next version of the app. The Polling Day Teller mode performed exactly as designed — fast, simple, and completely reliable on Android tablets with no internet connection needed.
The GOTV report, shared digitally to the knocking-up team throughout the day, proved far more efficient than the traditional system of paper teller slips and phone calls back to the committee rooms.
One of the improvements we are planning based on this election is QR code scanning directly from polling cards. Rather than searching by name or elector number, the teller simply points the tablet camera at the voter’s polling card and they are confirmed instantly. We expect to have this feature ready for the next set of elections.
Try Teller for Your Branch
Teller is now available and is licensed on a simple annual branch basis. One licence covers your entire branch — load the app on as many tablets as your polling stations require, with no per-device fees.
If your branch has local elections, by-elections or general election preparations coming up, now is the time to get set up and canvassed before polling day.
Get Teller for Your Branch
🎉 Introductory offer — purchase from Google Play at £19.99 for your first year. One licence covers your entire branch — unlimited tablets, all five canvassing modes, instant GOTV reports and full offline operation on election day.
