Hyperlocal parties were the big winners at this year's local elections as they stole the limelight from Labour. On a day where Labour was expected to make significant progress in Greater Manchester, the party has been left rueing missed opportunities.
Both Bolton and Stockport councils were earmarked as being ripe for Labour gains on the back of Partygate and the cost of living crisis. Yet those hopes failed to materialise, with both councils remaining under no overall control as no party won enough seats to form a majority administration.
It was far from a disaster for Labour, however, having retained control of Manchester council - as well as Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. Results were declared in six of Greater Manchester's 10 councils in the early hours of Friday, while counts in Manchester, Bury, Trafford and Rochdale took place later in the day.
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Across the region, Labour are down six seats, while the Tories have seven fewer than before. Meanwhile, the Lib Dems and Greens increased their number of councillors by three apiece.
The biggest successes came for independent groups Radcliffe First (Bury) and the Middleton Independents Party (Rochdale).
Between them, the groups won a total of 13 seats in 'all out' elections at their respective town halls - mostly at the expense of Labour.
The biggest shock came in Oldham as Labour's council leader, Arooj Shah, lost her seat in a bruising night for the party. Ms Shah, the first female Muslim council leader in the north, lost Chadderton South to Conservative Robert Barnes by 96 votes.
It makes her the second council leader in as many years to be ousted at the polls in Oldham after Sean Fielding lost his seat in Failsworth West last year.
Speaking after the result, she said she was 'dehumanised' by a deliberate 'smear campaign'. Overall, Labour lost five seats in Oldham on the night, but remain comfortably in control of the town hall.
In Bury, identified as a key battleground by both Labour and the Conservatives, all 51 council seats were up for grabs. Labour retained control of the town hall, making gains from both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats while at the same time losing seats to Radcliffe First.
The picture across Greater Manchester's 10 councils following this year's results:
- CON: -7
- LAB: -6
- LIB DEM: +3
- GREEN: +3
- OTHER: +7
The ruling group's number of seats rose from 28 to 29, with the party taking the seat of Liberal Democrat leader Michael Powell in St Mary's and another seat in the normally safe Conservative ward of Pilkington Park. It was a frustrating night for the Tories, who had high expectations, but saw their number of councillors reduce from 15 to 12, losing two seats to Radcliffe First.
The election was a stunning success for Radcliffe First, who raised their number of councillors from three to eight and now hold eight of the nine council seats in the town's three wards. The party now have just four fewer councillors than the Tories.
Speaking afterwards, Bury Council leader Eamonn O'Brien said the results showed that voters in Radcliffe had 'lost faith in the mainstream parties'.
Another 'all out' election in neighbouring Rochdale saw Labour lose some seats and win others, although the party retained its tight grip on Rochdale council, as they have since 2011. The story of the day was inroads made by the new kid on the block, the Middleton Independents Party, who fielded 15 candidates in five wards.
They took five seats and gave Labour a real scare. The Labour leader Neil Emmott held on in West Middleton but only by 150 votes.
The fledgling party was only formed in January this year, and chairman Peter Shore’s ambition was to take eight out of 15 Middleton wards in order to take over the township.
"We only intended to put one candidate in each ward but we managed 15, winning five," said Mr Shore. "This definitely gives us the confidence to keep going now, this is where the work starts. We’ve learned so much in a short period of time and we will target even more seats next year. I’m absolutely over the moon with how we’ve done."
Following a night of few shocks - when all 60 seats were up for grabs rather than the usual 20 following boundary changes - Labour lost six seats, but gained another four leaving them with 42 seats and easily the biggest party in the borough.
The Lib Dems, once such a power in Rochdale, had hoped to do more than just hold onto the seats they already had but ended the night with just three - one less than before. The Tories lost two seats but gained one, Peter Reid, in Littleborough Lakeside, leaving the party with ten seats, one less than previously.
Labour also held Trafford, largely at the expense of the Tories.
Labour are up a seat on 41, the Lib Dems are up two on five seats and the Greens now have four seats on the council - up one. The Tories lost four seats and now have 12.
This year's local elections proved 'devastating' for Trafford's Conservatives after the party lost their leader and four seats in the council chamber. Once a flagship Tory town hall, the party's share of the vote has 'completely collapsed', according to their rivals.
Labour gained one seat, in Ashton upon Mersey - retaining overall council control - as did the Greens in Hale Central. The Liberal Democrats gained two, in Timperley and Village. All gains were from the Conservatives.
The group's leader, Nathan Evans, lost his seat in Timperley by a decisive margin to Lib Dem Will Frass.
In the south of the borough, the Greens snatched Conservative strong-hold seat Hale Central by nearly 500 votes. Hale Central has been Tory since its inception in 2004. Before that, it was part of the larger Hale ward and had been blue since the 1970s.
Meanwhile, Stockport swung further to the Lib Dems but remains in no overall control. The Lib Dems took Bramhall North, and Bramhall South and Woodford, from the Tories, who lost their deputy leader John McGahan in the process. The Lib Dems now have 28 seats, an increase of those two, with Labour on 25, the Conservatives on five, after losing three seats, the Greens on two and three independents.
Who runs the council over the next 12 months will depend on what deals can be done behind the scenes over the next few days. But it could be difficult for the Tories - now down to five councillors - Greens and independents to stand in the Lib Dems way again, after they further increased their numerical advantage.
Lib Dem group leader Coun Mark Hunter described it as a ‘very good night for the Liberal Democrats and a very bad night for the Conservatives’ - not forgetting to note that the result ‘increases the gap between us and Labour as the largest party’. And he believes his group has a yet stronger claim for running the council over the coming municipal year. Labour remained static on 25 councillors.
Bolton council - the only borough in Greater Manchester controlled by the Tories - remains in no overall control. The Conservatives gained a seat, while Labour increased their tally by two.
It was a frustrating night for Labour in Bolton as they failed to live up to high expectations. The borough has been in no overall control since 2019, but has been run by the Conservatives through an agreement with smaller parties.
A third of the council's 60 seats were up for grabs this time around, and Labour were hopeful of benefiting on the back of Partygate and the cost of living crisis. Yet the night failed to live up to its billing as Labour gained just two seats and missed out on several key targets. By the end of the night, their total number of councillors stood at 19, while the Conservatives increased their tally by one - to 23.
It means the Tories remain the largest party and the town is still in no overall control. The new political make-up is Conservative 23, Labour 19, Independent six, Liberal Democrat five, Farnworth & Kearsley First two, Horwich and Blackrod First two and One Kearsley two.
In Manchester, an election with little change was good news for Labour. The ruling group now boasts 92 out of 96 councillors at the town hall. But the Greens gained a second seat on the council, taking Woodhouse Park from Labour, in the only change on the day.
Labour held onto Ancoats and Beswick, beating the Lib Dems by 98 votes, in what was the closed contest in the city following the party's by-election loss there in February. Former Lib Dem MP John Leech held Didsbury West with a large majority.
Despite the net loss, Manchester council leader Bev Craig said the results at her first local elections since taking over from Sir Richard Leese last year were 'fantastic', promising Labour will win voters back under her leadership. She said: "It's always sad to lose a seat, but it's democracy. We'll come back next time to make sure we can win the seat. Any election we don't win, we analyse and make sure we come back stronger."
Newly-elected Green Astrid Johnson, who unseated Labour's Sarah Judge by 195 votes in Woodhouse Park, said she was 'incredibly emotional' following the win. She said: "Obviously, the Green Party stands up against the climate crisis, but this starts at a very local level. If a car park is built and it floods other areas because of planning decisions, that has direct concern to the climate crisis."
Elsewhere peace activist Erinma Bell MBE, who campaigned against gun violence in Moss Side and Longsight, was elected for Labour in Moss Side.
Labour lost three seats in Salford - with Ordsall surprisingly falling to the Lib Dems and the Quays ward also going yellow. The Tories took Worsley and Westwood Park from Labour.
Labour are still firmly in control of Salford council, but the three losses takes their total number of seats to 49 with the Tories on eight and Lib Dems on two. Speaking after the results, Salford mayor Paul Dennett said he was 'disappointed'.
He said: "We take no vote for granted. What this has told me is we need to get back to the residents to properly understand what matters to them and actually deliver for those people and deliver for those communities in the Quays and in Ordsall."
The Labour mayor described the Lib Dem campaign as 'disingenuous' and warned the ruling group would 'hold their feet to the fire' on the pledges made.
Labour held onto Walkden South with a majority of 607 votes after winning by a margin of six last year, while beating Britain First by 705 in Walkden North.
Wigan council remained comfortably under Labour control while Tory leader Michael Winstanley lost his seat to Labour's Dave Wood in the Orrell ward by 34 votes. Mr Winstanley said he was 'bitterly disappointed' to lose by such a small margin - and pointed to the national picture in explanation.
"I'm obviously bitterly disappointed to lose by 34 votes, but that's politics and you've just got to take it on the chin," he said. Labour now have 61 seats in Wigan Council, an increase of three, while the defeat in Orrell sees the Conservatives whittled down to seven councillors.
Tameside's town hall remains 'very much' red, but the Conservatives have hailed a 'wonderful' night with two gains made. Ashton-Under-Lyne MP Angela Rayner cheered Labour on throughout the count in Ashton but appeared shaken by Oldham's Labour leadership loss.
Tameside saw a low turnout of 28 per cent and despite two gains for the Tories, Labour still dominates the council with 49 councillors, compared to seven Conservatives and a lone Green. Tory candidates were confident on making gains in Hyde and Stalybridge but as ballots were counted Labour remained hopeful about holding nearly all seats.
Soon after the count was completed, however, Labour all but conceded defeat in Hyde Godley - the subject of a controversial planning application to build 2,150 homes on green belt land in Hyde, named the Godley Green garden village. Voters hit back and the Conservatives took the ward from Labour.
