The Mancunian Way: Wipeout

Hello

If a picture paints a thousand words, then this image of the electoral map in Greater Manchester sums up the results of last night’s General Election better than I ever could.

The Tories were wiped out across the region, losing every seat - including the stronghold of Altrincham. Labour won 25 constituencies in Greater Manchester, with the Lib Dems winning the other two.

It comes just four and a half years after Boris Johnson led the Tories to victory, turning many of Labour's northern heartlands such as Heywood and Midddleton, Leigh and Bury South blue. But the Conservatives have now lost those red wall seats with two MPs who were ousted in 2019 re-elected.

The Conservatives were pushed into third place in Leigh with Labour's Jo Platt beating second-place Reform by nearly 9,000 votes. And in Bury North - a bellwether seat that was the most marginal in Britain last time - Labour's James Frith secured a majority of nearly 7,000.

It was also a good night for local Lib Dems with their party winning the two target seats of Cheadle and Hazel Grove. Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, who comfortably held her Ashton-under-Lyne seat, said the result was a ‘vote for change’.

She added: “It is a vote for an end to division and to bring our country together. To replace self-service with public service, to take what is broken, and begin to rebuild it. And to restore the belief of those who have had hope taken away.”

Oh no George

George Galloway was a no-show as he was booted out as the MP for Rochdale after just 92 days. The Workers Party of Britain leader had claimed to be an MP 'for all Rochdalians' and promised to 'make Rochdale great again' after winning February’s chaotic by-election.

But when the result was announced in the early hours of today, Mr Galloway, who lost out to Labour’s Paul Waugh, was nowhere to be seen. With tongue apparently firmly in cheek, Mr Waugh began his victory speech by saying: “I’d like to thank George Galloway for his service.”

That prompted a few heckles from the crowd. “Are we going to be allowed to speak? Is this a democracy?” Waugh then said. More here

Reform on the rise

They might not have won any seats in Greater Manchester, but Reform UK now has a claim to be the second biggest political party in the region. Nigel Farage's hard-right party appeared to be the biggest beneficiaries of the Tory collapse as they edged out the more established parties to take second place in 14 of the region's 27 constituencies.

The party picked up more than 190,000 votes across the region, compared with around 173,000 for the Conservatives. And while the Lib Dems won in Hazel Grove and Cheadle, across Greater Manchester the party picked up just under 96,000 votes.

Locally Reform picked up most votes around the Wigan area. But returning Wigan MP Lisa Nandy offered a stinging rebuke to the party’s ‘nasty, hateful, racist politics’ in her victory speech.

“I want to say to those people who’ve brought their nasty, hateful, racist politics to our town, the history of Wigan is of working-class people who for 100 years have driven you and your hate out of our town over and over again,” she said. “So take this result tonight as your marching orders.

“We are a better town than you. You are not welcome here. You can take your nasty divisive rhetoric elsewhere because we’ve got a job to do.”

Back to the football

Anyway, now the election’s out of the way we can all get back to the important stuff - like watching the Euros. England take on Switzerland in the quarter finals tomorrow at 5pm.

And if you fancy watching Gareth Southgate’s brave boys labour to a stodgy 1-0 win while getting soaked in £7 pints of lager, Jenna Campbell has put together this handy guide to all the places in town showing the games.

Chippy tea?

Paul Heaton has hailed his favourite chippy in Greater Manchester - as he urged fans to share their own most-loved fish and chip shops. Fresh from a triumphant Glastonbury set, the former Beautiful South and Housemartins frontman has just released a new song called Fish 'n' Chip Supper.

In a video shared on social media, the former Beautiful South frontman let fans in on his favourites in each of the places he has called home.

Naturally that included one in his now native south Manchester, as well as his favourites growing up in Hull and when he’s down in London. Dianne Bourne has more here…

Weather etc

Weekend: It’s an unsettled picture over the weekend, with sunshine and showers forecast on both Saturday and Sunday and highs of 16C.

Roadworks: One lane closed due to long-term roadworks on M62 eastbound from J19 (Heywood) to J20 (Rochdale).

Manchester headlines

Fatal crash: A person died in a horror crash on a major road outside the city centre in the early hours of today. Police closed off Regent Road and a number of surrounding roads close to Mancunian Way this morning. Read more

Life behind bars: Child killer Lucy Letby has been handed another whole life order and told she will spend the rest of her life behind bars. Letby, 34, had already been found guilty of murdering seven babies and the attempted murder of six others following a previous trial. And this morning at Manchester Crown Court, Letby was handed another whole life order after being found guilty of attempting to murder another infant.

Murder arrest: An 18-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of a pensioner in Leigh. The man was taken to hospital last Friday night with injuries initially thought to be non-suspicious. But his condition worsened and he died on Wednesday morning. Police now suspect he was attacked in the street and a murder investigation has been launched. More here

Worth a read

Clubbers are grabbing bricks from the demolition site of a legendary Stockport nightclub as mementos of their party days. The Bamboo in Hazel Grove was one of the longest-running nightclubs in the country having been open for over 60 years when it shut its doors for good last summer.

It played host to a number of top stars over the years, including Sir Elton John, Black Sabbath, Mud and Sweet. But it was most famous locally for being the scene of scores of drunken nights.

And as the building is pulled down, dozens of people have been down and asked workmen for a brick to keep as a souvenir, and to remind them of the many hours they spent inside.