A warning shot has been fired to Labour as the party suffered significant setbacks at the Greater Manchester local elections – despite a positive picture nationally. Labour has lost its majority at Oldham council, while George Galloway’s party ousted Manchester’s deputy leader.
The Workers Party of Britain, which Mr Galloway leads, only won two seats in Rochdale where the MP stormed to victory at a by-election just two months ago. But independents gained seats from Labour elsewhere, leaving the party with fewer seats overall.
The war in Gaza, and anger over Labour’s stance on it, appears to have been a decisive factor with several successful independents gaining seats after campaigning in support of Palestine. Labour have only made gains in two Greater Manchester councils so far.
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It comes as Labour’s Andy Burnham is expected to secure a third term as Greater Manchester mayor tomorrow (May 4). But the ‘Burnham bounce’ which was credited for boosting Labour’s vote at local elections in 2021 did not pay the same dividends this time.
Labour has been losing seats in Oldham for some time and saw its majority shrink to just one after two councillors quit the party weeks before the election, criticising the leadership for its stance on the Middle East conflict. Oldham council leader Arooj Shah admitted that the war in Gaza was a factor in Labour’s overall loss of five seats, but accused her opponents of ‘exploiting’ the issue.
She said: “When you look at the situation in Palestine, which has been horrific, people have clearly voiced concerns. We called for a ceasefire with Andy Burnham and the other leaders across Greater Manchester very early on when this tragedy began.
“People want an outlet to voice their concerns and that’s legitimate. But what you also see is bad actors on the fringes of British politics that use and exploit those matters and we definitely saw that in Oldham. The matter was definitely manipulated and exploited.”
Rochdale’s Labour group retained its majority over the council, but lost two seats to the Workers Party – including a thumping majority of 1,099 in Milkstone and Deeplish. The town’s new MP also claimed a ‘landslide’ victory over Manchester’s deputy leader in Longsight.
However, the margin was much tighter in Manchester where Shahbaz Sarwar won by 185 votes. Speaking after the victory in the usually safe Labour seat, Mr Galloway said that the result would ‘reverberate all through Manchester’ and ‘all through England’.
The former Labour MP said: “In Gaza, they will know that the man who stood for Gaza won.”
In Bolton, where Labour hope to win two parliamentary seats at the next general election, the party failed to win a majority, leaving the council in no overall control. The largest group at the town hall won the three seats they needed for a majority, but lost five.
This includes two formerly safe Labour seats in areas with large Muslim populations where the Greens won their first ever councillor in the borough. And in Tameside, Labour’s healthy majority was dented after losing three seats, allowing the Tories to make a rare gain.
Two independents beat Labour in Tameside, including one who wore a rosette in the colours of the Palestinian flag. Labour said that the war in Gaza dominated the campaign there, but newly-elected St Peter’s councillor Kaleel Khan insisted he won on local issues.
Labour also lost two seats in Stockport. But the Lib Dems fell one seat short of a majority, leaving the council in no overall control.
With Salford council set to declared its results on Sunday (May 5), Bury and Trafford are the only councils in Greater Manchester that have made gains so far. In Bury, Labour won the Conservative stronghold of North Manor and held onto seats it feared it might lose.
This includes the deputy leader’s seat in Redvales where Tamoor Tariq survived a threat from the Workers Party who lost by 193 votes. Trafford saw Labour’s most successful result in the city-region with the party gaining two seats from the Tories, increasing its majority.
With 87 councillors, Manchester’s Labour group is still one of the largest in the country. The loss of its deputy leader in Longsight was cushioned by a gain from the Greens in Hulme where one of its former councillors who quit the party failed to hold onto her seat.
Labour remain firmly in control of Wigan council where it lost a seat to an independent, but gained one from the Tories, leaving the Conservatives with just one councillor in the borough. Labour is looking to make gains in Salford where it enjoys a large majority.
Labour has promised to ‘earn’ back votes it lost because of the war in Gaza. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told BBC News: “We do strongly recognise there are areas where we have had independent candidates who have been particularly strongly campaigning on Gaza and where there is really strong feeling about this issue, because tens of thousands of people have been killed.
“It is just devastating to see what is happening, which is why we need an immediate ceasefire and for hostages to be released and why we hope some progress will be made in the negotiations. We do recognise the strength of feeling that there is and of course we will continue to work just as we do in every area across the country to earn votes back in future.”
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
