The local Election result in Greater Manchester that could unseat a Conservative MP

Results are still rolling in from across Greater Manchester from the 2024 local elections, but a picture is beginning to form of widespread Conservative defeats, as well as an uneven contest for Labour with gains in some places but losses to independent candidates in others. But in Leigh, there was only one seat that swapped hands - and it could flip the whole town red at the next General Election.

At last night's Wigan Council count, Labour's 50 year dominance in the town's politics continued, with the party ultimately winning 21 seats and maintaining its 64-seat majority on the council. But, after a year of campaigning, they have managed to remove the last Conservative councillor from Leigh, leaving just one Tory on the council, and one as the town's Member of Parliament.

The consensus among Labour members at the count last night (May 2) was that independent candidates were pulling in voters that in years past would have voted Conservative. But their major result of the night did not reflect this, when in a simple two-horse race between the main parties, Conservative councillor Kathleen Houlton increased her vote - but was wiped out by a giant Labour wave.

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Although she won 1845 votes, Labour's Mike Smith had an "outstanding" result, with 2179 Lowton residents turning out to remove Leigh's last Tory representative on Wigan Council. The day after the late-night result, Kathleen Houlton said: "It was obviously disappointing, I have really enjoyed being a Lowton East councillor since 2015.

"I have made some good friends and we have some wonderful residents here. No, all of the residents have been wonderful actually, I shall miss it very much."

Despite last night's loss, Mrs Houlton seemed in good spirits. She said: "People have been really nice, a lot of people have got in touch after the results. But I am sure the three councillors will do a good job, and if they don't, well there is always next time."

The results appear to be bad news for Leigh MP James Grundy, who won the seat from Labour in 2019, when eight Conservatives were on the council. Now, he is the last Tory left in Leigh.

He said: "I’m obviously disappointed to see Kath Houlton narrowly lose, especially given she seems to have polled one of the highest number of votes for any Conservative council candidate in Greater Manchester of the results seen so far.

"It’s clear across the region that Labour seem to be doing reasonably well in motivating their more middle class voters, whilst they are really struggling both in historically more working class areas such as Ince, and also in areas with large Muslim communities.

"The picture is very mixed, but as we have seen with results such as Ben Houchen in Teesside, not everything is going Labours' way, and I think we will need to digest the results over the weekend as the full picture emerges."

Although the seat has been Labour-dominated since 1922, "Leigh is a bellwether" Wigan Council's Deputy Leader Cllr Cunliffe explained. When the national mood shifted away from Corbyn's Labour Party, it was tough on the doorstep for campaigners, he said, but with a strong national wind behind them, "We've had Conservative voters telling us they won't turn up to vote for the party, we've even had some say they'll vote Labour".

The story behind this victory in an already Labour-dominated council, according to Leigh and Atherton Labour organiser Emma Fox, has been getting out on the doorstep with candidates, including the party's hopeful to oust the current sitting Conservative MP, former Leigh MP Joe Platt. On the night of the local elections, both Platt and Mayor Andy Burnham, the seat's other former MP, were seen out knocking on doors and turning out the last of their vote.

Emma Fox said: "That result was absolutely outstanding, we have been working this seat really hard year round, and we have finally done it. And now that we have cut the council down to one Conservative, it will be the MP next."