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Hello,
The dust may have settled on last week’s local elections, but the jostling for position in some town halls has only just begun. Last night the leadership merry-go-round continued in Oldham as the council elected its fourth new chief in just three years.
And it was a case of ‘meet the new boss, same as the old boss’, as Arooj Shah returned to the hot-seat just 12 months after being voted out. It’s the latest twist in the increasingly tumultuous and volatile world of Oldham politics.
In today’s newsletter we’ll hear from the woman she replaced as Amanda Chadderton reveals how a ‘toxic’ atmosphere meant she faced death threats, needed a police escort and had to carry a personal safety alarm during her time in charge.
We’ll also round up the rest of the fall-out from the elections as Labour dig their heels in in Stockport, despite trailing the Lib Dems, and Bolton looks to appoint a new chief after the Tories lost control of the town hall.
Elsewhere we’ll take a look at huge plans for Red Bank on the northern outskirts of Manchester city centre. The area has long been a melting pot of cultures and nationalities and played a pivotal role in the development of both Manchester's Jewish and Ukrainian communities.
And now it’s on the verge of yet another dramatic transformation... as we’ll find out.
Death threats, 'conspiracy theories' and police escorts
As the results from Royton South were announced Amanda Chadderton discovered her fate. Agonisingly she had fallen just 21 votes short of securing one of the three seats for the ward.
The defeat meant she became the third Labour leader of Oldham council in three years to be ousted. Over the last few years much has been written about the turbulent state of politics in the borough.
Now Ms Chadderton has revealed what it was like heading up the council and the toll it took on her private life. The former councillor, who was first elected in 2011 aged 25, took up the role of leader in May last year, after Arooj Shah lost her seat.
Ms Shah had taken over from Sean Fielding, just 12 months earlier. The borough’s first openly gay leader, Ms Chadderton said the discourse in Oldham – especially on social media – had become ‘toxic’, particularly during the election campaign.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It was always going to be difficult - I knew that. We are an outlier in that we’ve lost three leaders in three years, and there’s absolutely no denying that.
“I’m very personally resilient and I try not to get sucked into it, but the reality is, I have death threats, my house is double alarmed, I carry a police alarm. The police have had to follow me home so no one else follows me home.”
Thursday's election was the first to take place following the publication of an independent review into child sexual exploitation in the borough.
It was damning in its criticism of failures by both police and council to protect vulnerable young people from abuse from 2011 to 2014, and in a specific case dating back to 2005.
But it found no evidence of a widespread cover-up of sexual exploitation.
The issue of grooming and sexual exploitation of children was frequently raised on the campaign trail. Ms Chadderton said she's been accused of being a 'groomer' and a 'paedo protector', with accusations she's 'hiding grooming gangs'.
“It’s a conspiracy theory," she said. “We had a report that said in black and white there was no cover-up. The problem is in Oldham it’s become so toxic over the past few years and that is the reason that I’m the third leader that has lost, and why we do lose seats.
“It’s difficult to counteract because some of it is a conspiracy theory, [some of it is] dog-whistle politics, some of it is overtly racist and I’ve seen that in previous years. It’s a kind of politics that appeals to the lowest common denominator.”
So where does Oldham go from here? Last night Arooj Shah was reappointed as council leader.
She also faced horrendous abuse during her previous time in charge, but is now heading back into the bear pit pledging to clean up the streets and rebuild Oldhamers’ pride in their home town.
But with Labour’s majority slashed from five to just two and another local election happening next year, it means the borough teeters on the verge of no overall control. And that probably means Oldham’s divisions will not be healed any time soon.
Around the town halls
Labour is refusing to give up on its chances of running Stockport council, despite not being the largest group in the borough. The Lib Dems wiped out the Conservatives to come within a whisker of taking the 32 seats needed to automatically take control of the town hall.
But Labour gains at their expense in Offerton and Bredbury denied them the chance to move the authority out of ‘no overall control’ for the first time since 2011. The results mean the Lib Dems now hold 30 of the authority’s 63 seats, while Labour has 24.
And that casts smaller groups such as Edgeley Community Association, the Greens and Independent Ratepayers in the role of kingmaker. Who runs the council over the coming municipal year will be thrashed out over the next few days and weeks- as deals are made and alliances sought ahead of the annual council meeting later.
In Bolton the transfer of power looks likely to be much more straight forward. Labour is set to take over the running of council next week after becoming the largest party in last week’s elections. And Labour boss Nick Peel is in pole position to take over the leadership in a minority controlled administration.
Red Bank faces its biggest transformation yet
Red Bank, on the northern outskirts of Manchester city centre, has witnessed huge changes over the years. The name’s kind of fallen out of use recently, so if you’re not sure where I’m talking about it’s probably best described as the area around the Green Quarter flats at the bottom end of Cheetham Hill Road.
Once described by Friedrich Engels as ‘utterly uninhabitable’, in the mid 19th Century Red Bank was the centre of Jewish working-class life in the city. Hundreds of poor Eastern European immigrants settled in the cramped, squalid warren of terraced houses on the banks of the River Irk.
Initially many of its inhabitants scraped a living as hawkers or street peddlers. But as the community grew they became tailors, cap-makers, glaziers and took jobs in the relatively new water-proofing industry.
By the late 19th and early 20th Century Red Bank was changing again. As their fortunes improved many Jewish families had moved north into Cheetham Hill, Prestwich and Broughton.
Around the same around 100 Ukrainian families found their way to Manchester and settled in the area, establishing the first Ukrainian community in the UK. They found work, often in the tailors set up by their Jewish predecessors, and soon others followed.
In time the Ukrainians would also move north, establishing themselves around Cheetham Hill. And by the 1930s most of the houses in Red Bank were demolished and replaced by industrial units, until eventually they were also torn down.
Now the area is changing again. Planning applications have been submitted to build nearly 5,000 homes there as part of the huge Victoria North project.
Seven tower blocks up to 34 storeys high could be constructed, alongside a primary school, health centre, shops and businesses, under the plans by developer the Far East Consortium (FEC).
Wonder what Engels would have made of it all?
'Most of our generation can't fathom buying a house'
Maybe the latest wave of Red Bank residents could buy a house using the new deposit-free mortgage launched by Skipton Building Society. It’s aimed at helping renters get on the property ladder without the crippling need to save up a huge deposit.
But for many of the young workers Caitlin Griffin spoke to in the city centre owning their own home seems like a distant dream. “All of my money at the moment goes on my rent,” said Angelica Southwood. “Luckily my bills are included, but we can’t move somewhere else where bills may not be included.
“With the kind of jobs I’m going to be in, it’s a career path where you start right at the bottom in the arts and culture sector so I feel like I have come to terms with not owning my own home.
“It’s really sad to tell your parents that because to them it just seems crazy. I just don’t feel hopeful about it, and it’s not just Manchester but the whole of the UK I think."
Bailey McColgan thought a deposit-free mortgage would be beneficial to those looking to get out of renting but said some of his friends can’t even ‘fathom’ buying a house.
“One of my friends who I just met, we were talking about what he’s going to do with his house when his mum moves out and he can’t even fathom buying it at any point, he’ll just be renting it for the rest of his life.”
Children of the devolution
The first details of how Andy Burnham plans to use new powers given to Greater Manchester in the latest devolution deal have been revealed. The mayor will make a series of announcements in the coming months to set out his plans for transport, housing and technical education.
It comes seven weeks after the trailblazer deal was signed by the government, giving local leaders in Greater Manchester more control over spending in the city-region.
Mr Burnham said he plans to introduce a 'Manchester Baccalaureate' - or MBacc - to create a technical education route the equal of academic qualifications. The Labour mayor also promised he would set up a Good Landlord Charter to drive up housing standards across the region.
And he's also pledged more details on how commuter rail services would become part of the Bee Network - a London-style public transport system set to launch with the first franchised buses in September.
Watch this space.
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Weather, etc
Temperatures: Cloudy changing to sunny intervals by lunchtime. 17C.
Trains: Buses replacement service on Northern trains between Wigan Wallgate and Bolton and between Wigan Wallgate and Manchester Victoria due to engineering works until May 11.
Trivia question: You might have noticed Liverpool is hosting Eurovision this weekend. But can you name of the Stockport rapper that performed the UK's 2006 entry Teenage Life?
Manchester headlines
- Dog attack: A man and woman have been left with 'potentially life-changing injuries' following a dog attack in Wigan. Police were called to the scene on Thomas Street in Hindley Green at around 11.30pm on Monday. More here
Liquidation: The fashion brand founded by Real Housewives of Cheshire star Seema Malhotra owed almost £3m when it entered liquidation, it has been revealed. Debts of over £2.8m had been racked up by Manchester-based Dress Me Online according to newly-filed documents with Companies House. Read more.
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Strike: Parklife festival could be 'heavily affected' by Metrolink strikes, a union has warned ahead of a ballot for industrial action opening tomorrow. Workers will vote on whether to strike over the 'woeful' offer they have had.
If the strikes go ahead, they could begin as early as next month and coincide with the weekend of June 10 and 11 when Parklife festival is happening at Heaton Park. There are also concerts planned at the Etihad Stadium, Old Trafford and the AO Arena that weekend.
Worth a read
In this fascinating and poignant piece by Lee Grimsditch, Joe Gallagher, the first Brit to be named Ring Magazine's boxing trainer of the year, remembers his mentor Phil Martin as the 30th anniversary of his untimely death nears. Phil built the legendary Champs Camp gym in the aftermath of the 1981 Moss Side riots, paving the way for a generation of Mancunian boxing greats. But, as Joe explains, it wasn't just about the belts and the titles. Just as important were the lives that Phil helped transform.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me. If you have stories you would like us to look into, email beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk.
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The answer to today's trivia question is: Daz Sampson
