Yahoo News Local elections 2024: The key battlegrounds in Greater Manchester and what to expect
Greater Manchester is in store for a big night at the local elections. All 10 councils will be holding elections on Thursday (May 2) with Andy Burnham's job as Greater Manchester mayor also up for grabs while voters in Salford will also be electing their own city mayor.
Three councils which are currently on a knife-edge will be counting the votes as soon as polls close at 10pm with the results expected to be declared in the early hours of Friday morning (May 3). All eyes will be on Oldham council where Labour could lose their majority.
Labour is looking to win enough seats in Bolton for a majority, while the Lib Dems hope to do the same in Stockport. Four counts will be taking place on Friday (May 3) - including Manchester and Rochdale where MP George Galloway's party has been heavily targeting.
READ MORE: New poll suggests surprising result at Greater Manchester mayor election
The Workers Party of Britain - and its 'alliance' - could do some damage to Labour in Rochdale where its leader won a by-election earlier this year. Amid anger about the war in Gaza, the party is also aiming to oust Manchester council's deputy leader in Longsight.
On Saturday (May 4), the winners of the two mayoral contests will be declared with the final set of results coming from Salford council on Sunday (May 5). Polling suggests Mr Burnham is set to secure a third term as mayor by a comfortable margin again - but the battle for second place could throw up some surprising results with the Conservatives predicted to finish fourth, behind Reform UK.
Last month, the Manchester Evening News held hustings with five of the candidates in the race for mayor. Since then, the M.E.N. has also spoken to voters across Greater Manchester about their views ahead of the local elections. You can read what they said here:
Bolton: The ‘overdeveloped’ and ‘traffic congested’ town which has become a key battleground
Manchester: Gaza, Greens and 'too many councillors'... Manchester Labour has some local election headaches
Rochdale: 'The town has a bad name now... I want someone that cares'
Stockport: The town with a 'palpable buzz', but 'too many derelict shops'
Tameside: ''You only see them come election time": Voters in Tameside have their say on local politics
Trafford: Green hope, cycle lane anger and Burnham 'in your face'... the view from the streets of Trafford
Wigan: The 'weird' town where people are fed up - and want something different
Labour currently controls eight local authorities in Greater Manchester with the party also in power at Bolton council where it is the largest group. Stockport council is also in no overall control with the Lib Dems running it as a minority administration since 2022.
A third of all council seats in Greater Manchester will be up for grabs on Thursday (May 2) with residents living in areas where a sitting councillor has died or resigned electing two representatives. Every voter in Greater Manchester will also have the chance to elect the city-region's mayor, while voters in Salford will be selecting a city mayor too under a different voting system from previous elections.
Elsewhere in the country, voters in Blackpool South will be choosing their new MP in a by-election on Thursday (May 2). In total, 107 local authorities in England will be holding elections on the same day while voters in 10 regions will also be voting for a metro mayor.
Greater Manchester mayor
Last year, Mr Burnham secured a second term in office with more than two-thirds of the vote, winning every single council ward in Greater Manchester - including areas which elected Conservative councillors. He will struggle to top that resounding victory this year.
However, the Labour mayor is widely expected to win comfortably with a recent poll predicting he will win 63 per cent of the vote. Shockingly, the poll by More in Common put the Conservatives fourth, behind Reform UK and independent candidate Nick Buckley.
Laura Evans, who is standing for the Tories again, won nearly 20 per cent of the vote last time. But the pollsters have put her on 9 per cent, while Dan Barker, who was the Conservative candidate before defecting to Reform UK in March, is predicted to get 12 per cent.
There are six candidates standing in total. This includes the Liberal Democrats and the Greens who are each polling at 4 per cent.
Bolton
In Bolton, 21 of the 60 seats in the borough’s wards are up for grabs with a 118 candidates standing in total. The council is currently under no overall control but Labour have 28 seats and currently lead the authority, having taken it back from the Tories last year.
The party is hoping to win enough seats for a majority at the town hall. But even if they lose seats, with the Conservatives currently on 15, the Liberal Democrats on seven and hyper-local groups and independents on nine, Labour is likely to remain the largest party.
Candidates from the Conservatives, Labour and Reform/Bolton For Change will contest every ward with the Lib Dems and Greens contesting 19 of the 21 seats. The Workers Party will be fighting to win three wards - Hulton, Queens Park & Central and Rumworth.
Bury
In Bury, 17 of the 51 seats are up for grabs with residents voting to elect a single representative in each of the borough's wards. One local Labour source told the M.E.N. that no big changes are expected - but there could be a couple of close contests in certain areas.
The council is currently controlled by Labour which holds 31 seats with the Conservatives on 11 , Radcliffe First on seven and the remaining two councillors sitting as independents. The party is expected to remain in power but is hoping to boost its majority.
Hyper-local group Radcliffe First will also be looking to maintain their strong showing in recent years in the town. Candidates from the Conservatives and Labour will contest every ward in the borough with new political party Bury Independents fighting for nine seats.
The Liberal Democrats will field four candidates, as will the Green Party while the Workers Party will be fighting to win in three wards. In total, 60 candidates are standing across the borough including two from the English Democrats party and two from Reform UK.
Manchester
Manchester has one of the largest Labour groups in the country with 86 of the 96 seats. The party is hoping to win back a seat in Woodhouse Park - the Wythenshawe ward currently represented by the Greens - in what is expected to be another close contest.
The ruling group is also looking to regain a seat from the Greens in Hulme where an ex-Labour councillor who quit the party in 2022 is up for re-election. Labour is defending the marginal Didsbury West ward while the Lib Dems are hoping to hold Ancoats and Beswick.
The Workers Party is also putting pressure on Labour in several seats, including Longsight where deputy leader Luthfur Rahman is up for re-election. Mr Galloway, who leads the party, has said that it will be treating the race for this seat like a parliamentary by-election.
Last week, councillors were caught up in a row outside a mosque in the area which Labour usually comfortably wins in. The Palestinian flag features in posters of both frontrunners' - but residents have told the M.E.N. it's not just international issues influencing their vote.
Oldham
Oldham council is currently on a knife-edge with Labour bosses on the brink of losing overall control. Losing just one seat could spell the end of the party's 13-year reign in the borough - although, as the largest party at the town hall, it could end up staying in power.
Labour seats such as Coldhurst, Failsworth West, Royton South, St James and St Mary's are being hotly contested by independents and other political groups. But the party could also gain seats in Hollinwood, Failsworth East and Royton North to make up for losses.
If the council goes into no overall control after May 2 - which means no single party has more than half of the 60 seats in the council - Oldham could face a fourth year in a row of leadership changes. The Labour group, which is likely to still be the biggest party in the council, would need to work with smaller political groups and independents to keep running the council as a minority administration.
Alternatively, if the opposition parties join forces to form a majority, they could oust Labour. However, several Labour sources have said that such a coalition seems unlikely as it would require a wide range of political groups with opposing views to work together.
There are no Workers Party candidates standing in Oldham, but some independents are campaigning on the issue of Gaza. Two Labour councillors - including one seeking re-election - dramatically quit the party over leader Keir Starmer's stance on the war last month.
Rochdale
The usual battlegrounds in Rochdale are in Middleton and Littleborough wards, but the impact of Mr Galloway arriving as the new MP in the area could shake things up. Labour currently holds 46 out of the 60 seats at the town hall, with a third of the total up for grabs.
The Workers Party has fielded 13 candidates in the borough - including Billy Howarth, who stood against its leader as an independent at the by-election in February. Mr Galloway also claims to have formed an 'alliance' with other political groups aiming to oust Labour.
While Labour's majority is likely to remain in tact, the ruling group could lose some seats, particularly in areas like Central Rochdale, Milkstone and Deeplish where Mr Galloway picked up support in the recent by-election. Labour will be fighting on other fronts too.
The Middleton Independents are aiming to regain two lost seats in East and North Middleton and while the Conservatives will want to win back the seat they lost in Littleborough Lakeside last year. Meanwhile, the Lib Dems will be hoping to hold Milnrow and Newhey.
Salford
Labour mayor Paul Dennett is widely expected to secure a third-term in office - and the party could also increase the number of Labour councillors in the town hall. The closest contests in the city are expected in the Quays ward and Worsley and Westwood Park.
The Lib Dems fancy their chances of winning another council seat in the Quays where Labour is defending a seat. Last year, Labour won in the ward, but a by-election held in January saw the Lib Dems win back another seat, putting pressure on the ruling group.
In Worsley and Westwood Park, where Conservative councillor Karen Garrido is stepping down after more than 30 years, Labour could gain a seat from the Tories who are fielding a new candidate in the seat. Labour won a seat in the ward in 2021, but lost twice since.
Another ward to watch is Kersal and Broughton Park where recently more than 1,000 people signed a petition calling for the creation of a new town council with local control over bins, litter, and road repairs. The Conservatives are defending one seat in this ward.
Stockport
The Lib Dems have run Stockport under a minority administration for the last two years and are looking to gain a majority this year. With 29 councillors out of 63 in the town hall, they're just a few seats away pushing Labour further out of power in the borough.
However, the party has faced intense criticism over the housing issues in Stockport, with nearly 6,000 people on the housing register, and a record-low number of available properties available in January. Labour will have to try to hold onto seats in urban areas, and snatch some Lib Dem seats in the more rural areas of Stockport to have a chance of stopping the Lib Dems from getting a majority.
Smaller groups - such as the Greens, Edgeley Community Association and Heald Green Ratepayers - are hoping to hold onto their council seats which are up for re-election this year. Last year, the Conservatives lost all their remaining seats at Stockport council.
The party, which won two parliamentary seats in the borough at the last general election, will be hoping to reverse the wipe out and gain some ground this year. Other parties standing in Stockport include Reform UK, the Party of Women and Women's Equality Party.
Tameside
Labour is comfortably in control of Tameside council, holding 51 of the 57 seats. The Conservatives currently have six councillors..
Stalybridge is understood to be the main target for the Conservatives as their stronghold in the South ward could be the springboard for which they can reclaim the two seats they lost last year in Hyde and Ashton. The Tories' deputy leader at the time, Ruth Welsh, lost out in the Hyde Werneth ward to Jim Fitzpatrick and Mohammed Karim pipped Conservative incumbent Lucy Turner in Ashton Hurst.
Those were both close contests, so all eyes will be on the Stalybridge wards as well as Hyde Werneth and Ashton Hurst where the Conservatives will be hoping to regain seats lost. As for the rest of the borough, Labour are likely to hold onto the remaining seats.
Trafford
A change of control at Trafford councils looks unlikely with Labour holding a comfortable 19-seat majority in the town hall which has a total of 63 councillors. The Conservatives, which controlled the council until 2018, are the largest opposition party with 10 councillors.
This year, Reform UK is contesting seven seats, which could spell danger for the Conservatives. Meanwhile, the Lib Dems and Greens, who each have six seats, will be hoping to repeat recent results in the south of the borough, including Altrincham, Timperley and Hale.
The controversial Carrington Relief Road and the creation of the New Carrington link between 'isolated' community of Partington are key issues in these particular council wards. The Conservatives, Lib Dems and Greens are against the building of the £78m road which protesters argue is planned to go over important peat deposits and allegedly contaminated land left by the former Shell oil refinery.
Choked up roads as result of cycle lanes cutting through the north of the borough, particularly on Manchester United match days, is also be an issue exercising voters. Ahead of the local elections, the M.E.N. has found widespread disaffection among voters in Trafford.
Wigan
Labour currently holds 64 of the 75 seats at Wigan council. The ruling group is expected to comfortably hold onto its strong majority.
But the party does face opposition in the borough, particularly from independent councillors. Among the issues independent candidates are campaigning about is the controversial development of 1,000 homes on green belt land at Mosley Common.
Going into the election, there are nine independent councillors. Of these, four are members of the Independent Network group.
The Conservatives currently hold two seats in Wigan having lost five last year. They will be hoping to recover some of these losses.
