New council leader expected, 'paper candidate' wins miles away and lots drawn: The drama at Greater Manchester's local election counts last night
05.05.2023 - 09:51
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
There was plenty of local political drama in three Greater Manchester boroughs last night — with more election action set to hit the region today.
Voters went to the polls yesterday (May 4) to select new councillors in all 10 Greater Manchester authorities. However, only three councils counted their votes overnight.
They were Tameside, Bolton, and Salford. Despite two of those three remaining safe Labour holds, there was still a spectacle.
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Today, counts for Manchester should be finished by lunchtime, so we will see if any party can chip into the safest Labour majority in the country. In Stockport, counting should be finished by 2pm, with a ding-dong battle continuing between Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
In Bury, counting begins at noon, and we expect a result at some point in the late afternoon. That’s also when we expect results to come in for Oldham.
It will be sooner in Rochdale, as counting for the 20 seats starts this morning, as does Wigan’s totting-up. Trafford’s counting is also today, but as it is an all-out ballot, it may take a while.
Here’s what you might have missed while you were asleep.
The most significant result for Greater Manchester was in Bolton, where the Conservatives lost their status as the largest party in the borough in the town’s all-out election. Going into this poll, the council was held in no overall control, and remains so.
However, Labour’s five gains puts the party firmly in the driving seat, as they have 26 out of the 60 seats. It means Bolton Labour leader Nick Peel can expect to become the boss of the council.
“I will say to the independent parties and Lib Dems that the public of Bolton profoundly rejected