Oldham has come under the microscope in recent years for a political melodrama that has seen three successive leaders dethroned amid swirling social media conspiracy theories.
Its politics has frequently been branded as ‘toxic’, and most recently described as ‘definitely something that’s not right or normal’ by its current leader.
Political heads of Oldham council have experienced death threats and regular abuse, while councillors described being called 'paedos' by people on the doorstep and social media pile-ons which also targeted family and friends. Two years ago a leader's car was fire-bombed outside her home.
“People use the word toxic a lot, but it fits, because it is poisonous,” a serving Oldham Labour member tells the M.E.N.
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Like Westminster, local authorities have their own scandals, upheavals and election shocks. But many people involved in the region’s politics see the borough, once the beating heart of England’s industrial revolution, as an anomaly within Greater Manchester.
“I think a lot of what goes on in Oldham sends shivers down the spine of those outside of the borough,” says one Labour councillor in a neighbouring GM authority.
'I think generally it is more toxic than other places'
In last month’s local elections the Conservative party saw more than a thousand of their seats wiped out across England, including losing control of Bolton’s town hall - with Labour making significant gains.
But in Oldham, the trends were reversed. The Tories increased their presence to become the largest opposition group on the council benches, and Labour was reduced down to 32 councillors, the fewest elected in the borough since 2010.
“It is peculiar isn't it, if you look at what happened to the Tories across the whole country - why did they gain seats in a place like Oldham? That should tell you something,” one serving opposition councillor says. “There is a different thing happening in Oldham because people aren’t happy. I think generally it is more toxic than other places, and I do poke my nose into other places.”
One former councillor was particularly amazed at the political swing in Hollinwood, a place he had believed to be a ‘Labour ward through and through’, which went from three Labour members to all blue in a clean sweep for the Tories.
“I think there is a good potential for the council to go into no overall control next year,” he adds.
Just a fragile two-seat majority now stands between the Labour party and that prospect. And the borough is also now under new leadership - for the fourth time in three years.
A job with a warning label
In 2013 a trio of budding Labour darlings; Sean Fielding, Arooj Shah and Amanda Chadderton, jointly won the Local Government information Unit’s coveted Young Councillor of the Year award.
Ten years later all three have experienced the brutal highs and lows of politics, with each taking on - and subsequently losing - the Oldham leadership.
Mr Fielding took up the top job in 2018, but lost his Failsworth West seat in 2021. Ms Shah would go on to replace him - during which time her car was fire-bombed outside her home - but was herself defeated in Chadderton South at the next election.
Just four weeks ago Ms Chadderton became the latest electoral casualty, coming just 21 votes short of retaining her seat in Royton South ward.
Residents may now be experiencing a sense of deja vu as Ms Shah - who won back a seat in St Mary’s ward - has returned to head up the authority for a second time.
But the job comes with a warning label; both Ms Chadderton and Ms Shah have spoken publicly about receiving death threats, campaigns of harassment and needing police protection during their tenures. During his leadership stint Mr Fielding said a group of protesters had gathered outside his home and intimidated his partner.
A former Oldham councillor says that the style of politics has changed drastically in the last few years - and not for the better. Councillors from all parties represented on the council; Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Failsworth Independents, have spoken about being subjected to abuse while in their elected roles.
“Over the last two years to be honest I haven’t particularly enjoyed it,” he says. “The first few years were quite good, you could do stuff, and it was just political.
“But now you spend 50 pc of your time having to refute baseless wild allegations against your party, against individuals, because of a toxic culture towards the council as a whole on social media.”
Council leader Arooj Shah adds: "The fact that people are scared of engaging with democracy because of the way they've been treated is not right.
"There is a unique issue in Oldham. The way I see it, it's true that's probably not normal but we have to focus on the most important things. I'm not going to give up on my town or its people for the sake of a small minority who are seeking to divide us."
Allegations swirling on social media
The source of the toxic culture in Oldham's politics is multifaceted, one councillor suggests. Much of it stems from allegations of a cover up of grooming and child sexual exploitation (CSE) in the borough, which began circulating widely on social media in 2018.
An independent ‘assurance review’ into the issue was commissioned in 2019 and finally published last summer. The report was damning of failures by both police and council to protect vulnerable young people from abuse in the years 2011 to 2014, and in a specific case dating back to 2005.
However, the review team found no evidence of a widespread cover-up of sexual exploitation. But this has not stopped claims to the contrary mushrooming on social media.
“It’s amazing what people believe because it’s on Facebook," an elected member adds. "That creates a background and I have been subject to some of that.
“It isn’t just the CSE stuff, but that creates an environment in which some pretty outrageous stuff is flying around. The facts don’t matter, it’s how people feel that counts.”
A Labour councillor describes the environment as hostile, and a far cry from the chamber of yesteryear where they would engage in purely political battles about policy or ideology.
“There were fallouts but it was nothing like what we have now. It’s the unrelenting personal lies and accusations, and it’s really depressing," they say. "My family gets upset by it as well. It’s awful.
“It’s very difficult to actually get on with the job, you can see why people are reluctant to put themselves forward for public office unless they have that mindset that they are bulletproof.
“If you just want to get on with the job and work for your community, it’s a horrible place to be. It used to be really rewarding but now it’s constantly looking over your shoulder and even being afraid to walk the streets."
They add: “Online campaigns have taken hold now and all the mud they have flung has stuck. It’s altered the face of politics in Oldham, it’s just a horrible grubby thing now.
“I reckon there’s people outside of Oldham watching what’s gone on and we’ll see the same tactics cropping up elsewhere in the country, these kinds of smear campaigns because it’s an effective tactic.”
However alongside the social media allegations, there is also genuine dissatisfaction with how the authority has run services, from planning, pothole repairs and contacting residents about council tax arrears, another veteran councillor believes.
'If Oldham council was a brand you’d get rid of it'
And controversial decisions and comments that have been made since 2018 have helped heaped pressure on the authority.
“The current administration over the past four, five years hasn’t done itself any favours and it just throws a target on them,” he says. “There are a lot of people out there who are distinctly unimpressed by how the council gets the basics wrong.
“I know money is tight and we have had cuts but some of the basic stuff just doesn't work. I have to chase for repairs to things, and it’s the little things that people notice. Plenty of services don’t cover themselves in glory.
“If Oldham council was a brand you’d get rid of it and call it something else because it’s such a hard job to drag it back up again.
“There are some genuine people out there in the cheap seats who are just frustrated that they don’t feel like they are treated properly. And that’s nothing to do with politics. People are really fed up and cynical.”
He points to issues such as a poor track record of delivering big regeneration projects, and a focus on Oldham’s town centre at the cost of investment in the other districts as affecting resident’s faith in their council. The council has been trying to regenerate the Prince’s Gate site at Oldham Mumps for the best part of ten years, and confirmed earlier this year that plans for a Lidl store and a hotel there had been scrapped.
A raft of other projects are either in the pipeline or underway, including the relocation of Tommyfield Market into Spindles Shopping Centre, the transformation of the Egyptian Room into a foodhall, the Northern Roots project for an eco park, and a new theatre for the Oldham Coliseum which closed in March to the dismay of residents and arts leaders.
Coun Shah admits she agrees with the assessment that the borough's residents feel frustrated about the basics, having heard many people's concerns as she campaigned to be elected back onto the council in St Mary's ward. It was that, rather than any murky theories about the town hall or the demise of its leaders that they wanted to talk about with her, she says.
"I have heard these things on the doorstep too. There are concerns around issues like non delivery of projects and a loss of services," Coun Shah adds.
"And to be completely honest I think people are sick of hearing about austerity and that's the reason why things don't happen. Even though there's a very good reason why some of those projects didn't happen or take place.
"But what I think people really want to know is their reality, they see their local service disappearing, they see a library going, they see a community centre going; and they think why can't you play with the hand that you've been dealt?
"I completely understand that and for me it's about really listening to Oldham's people and trying to shape all our services with their insight at the heart of it."
She adds: "We've got huge plans for the future and regeneration plans that are second to none, really exciting things that are going to happen but they do need to be relevant to local people.
"Hopefully getting the basics right and fixing potholes and emptying bins on time and responding to people's needs will start building people's trust and confidence.
"People are looking at us for answers and we have to have those answers. They will start seeing projects delivered like the Egyptian Room and the food market and the theatre, all that will happen, but until that happens I have to accept that there will be that cynicism.
"It's my job that my actions speak louder than words."
Controversies show no sign of slowing
The reputational risk of Oldham’s toxic politics and its struggle to reinvent itself through ambitious schemes poses the biggest danger to the people who call it home, the councillor believes.
“It’s affecting people’s lives and jobs in Oldham,” he adds. “That’s the really scary stuff.”
But the controversies around the borough’s politics have shown no sign of slowing, even before the municipal year has truly picked up steam.
In particular, the public spotlight is back on returning council leader Shah’s ongoing friendship with former convicted criminal Mohammed Imran Ali, widely known as ‘Irish Immy’.
He was convicted in 2013 for assisting Dale Cregan by driving him to Leeds after his murder of gangland rival David Short in 2012.
While on the run, Cregan lured PCs Fiona Bone, 32, and Nicola Hughes, 23, to an address in Tameside after making a bogus report of a burglary.
Ali has also been convicted of a number of other crimes, including drug trafficking and assault.
He attended the Oldham local election count on May 5, and was pictured celebrating Coun Shah's win in the Queen Elizabeth Hall along with other Labour campaigners.
Coun Shah’s association with Ali is understood to have been a point of difference in the internal leadership contest which took place in the days after Ms Chadderton lost her seat.
An ex-councillor believes the ongoing friendship has affected how people view the council, and its leadership. “From a borough-wide perspective there is quite a lot of toxicity towards her in relation to the friends that she keeps,” he adds.
Members of Oldham Labour say they have also expressed concerns about some of the ‘associations’ of their leader posing an issue for the group. “It’s not good, and I don’t like it,” says one council member.
When asked about Ali, Coun Shah referred back to a statement she gave in the council chamber in December 2021, in which she said: “I can condemn their individual and personal choices but I can’t condemn them as people.
“I know people from all walks of life but I am such a strong believer in rehabilitation, such a strong believer that these people didn’t choose to take the path that they did but lack of opportunities do drive people towards that.
“I am not here to cancel people from society or culture but I’m certainly here to make sure there are opportunities for people so that they don’t make those bad choices in life.
“And that is something that I’ve been really honest and open about. I’d like to be judged by my own standards, by my own conduct.”
A sense of determination to get things right
Following this year’s boundary review, a third of the council will be up for election next May but then there will be a year’s hiatus until 2025 - placing even greater pressure on the ruling group to retain a majority.
A dozen Labour councillors who placed third in the all-out contest last month will face re-election.
“We know that we’ve got our work cut out, there is no doubt about it,” a Labour member says. “But overall there is a sense of determination to get it right, to learn from our mistakes - and we’ve made a few.”
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