Local elections 2023: The key battlegrounds as Greater Manchester prepares to go to the polls
The political landscape of Greater Manchester will be settled for another year as voter's go to the polls this week in the local elections.
So-called 'all out' elections will be held at six councils - Bolton, Stockport, Oldham, Wigan, Trafford and Tameside - with every seat being contested. Should there be any political changes, those authorities, particularly Bolton and Stockport, appear most likely to record any shocks, although Labour's dominance across Greater Manchester continues to stand firm.
Stockport Lib Democrats 28, Lab, including Labour and Co-operative, 22, Con 4, Independent 7, Green 3. This year sees the council's first all-out elections since 2004 - meaning all 63 seats are up for grabs rather than the usual one third.More than 200 candidates are competing for residents’ votes in this year's local elections in Oldham – which sees every seat up for grabs for the first time since 2004.
According to sources, the Lib Dems are confident in Didsbury West with the Green Party looking to up its seats in Woodhouse Park. A close race, meanwhile, is predicted in Ancoats and Beswick. The February by-election followed a win for the Greens in Woodhouse Park at the 2021 local elections – a result the party pulled off again the following May. Since then, a Labour councillor in Hulme defected to the Greens, taking the total number of opposition councillors to five – the magic number which gives them the power to propose motions and amendments in the council chamber.
Theoretically, although unlikely, it gives a chance for control of the town hall – which has been run by Labour since 1979 – to swing to another party if they can drum up enough support to win a majority of seats. They took five seats, becoming the third largest group on the council, and gave Labour a real scare. Labour leader Neil Emmott held on in West Middleton, but only by 150 votes.The fledgling party - whose ‘Think Middleton before Rochdale’ slogan tapped into a feeling the town had become the poor relation to its larger neighbour - was left celebrating an historic result.
The Conservatives took Worsley and Westwood Park back from Labour but failed to secure a third seat in Kersal and Broughton Park, where the current councillor won after quitting the Lib Dems and standing as an independent.To the north of the borough, in Little Hulton, just 18.1 per cent of people eligible to vote bothered to cross a box in 2022.
Labour gained one seat - retaining overall council control - as did the Greens. The Liberal Democrats gained two. All gains were from the Conservatives.
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