'Tired' Labour lose overall control of Oldham Council

Only three years ago there were 35 red seats and a firm hold on Oldham Council, but after another restless night the party loosened its grip once more and now holds just 27 - having lost four today (May 3).

Nationally, the local elections have so far been a celebration for Labour having made gains throughout the country, but there was no party for council leader Cllr Arooj Shah.

She said: "We have to take some time to reflect on the result.

Labour lose overall control in victorious night for independents

The civic centre was restless as counting went on into the early hours of the morning (Image: Newsquest)

"I think being in control is different to being in power, the power really lies in the government and we can only do so much.

"That's been really difficult and as time went on it got harder, and harder, and harder."

Catch up on election night as it happened in our live blog

The party lost a staggering six seats in Failsworth East, Waterhead, Alexandra, Royton South, Coldhurst, St Mary's, and only gained two in Failsworth East, Hollinwood.

When asked to explain why Labour faced a difficult night, fingers were pointed at the opposition by both Cllr Shah and Oldham West and Royton MP Jim McMahon.

Jim McMahon MP and Cllr Arooj Shah (Image: Newsquest)

The Labour councillor continued: "I have to say if anything I can take from tonight, we've got to put Oldham first, we've got to put our people first.

"Politics in Oldham has been so toxic for such a long time - we're dealing with extremists.

"I'm super proud of all the candidates but it has been a strange night."

While the Labour MP, who spoke before the results came in, added: "We're almost certainly not heading for overall control, from my point of view I'm very proud of the campaign our candidates have ran.

"It is unavoidable, we have gone through half a decade of very toxic and divisive politics.

Former councillor Paul Fryer is retiring from civic duties and moving to York (Image: Newsquest)

"The Conservative party selected a former BNP member to represent them, that says a lot about the politics in Oldham."

The Conservatives suspended Chadderton South candidate Karl Bardsley, who ultimately stood in the election as an independent candidate.

A party spokesperson said while the investigation process was confidential there was "no place for extremism" within the Conservatives.

Full list of Oldham Council local election results for 2024

Meanwhile, former Labour Failsworth West councillor Paul Fryer told The Oldham Times he believed the reason residents had swayed their vote was because they are "tired of Labour".

The party lost Mr Fryer's seat to Independent Mark Wilkinson, who beat off Labour's Kyle Phythian after Mr Fryer chose not to stand for re-election due to him moving to York.

He said: "Labour have been in power in Oldham for 13 years, perhaps people are a bit tired of Labour."

Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden acknowledged the crisis in Gaza had been “a factor in some places”, saying that with “so many innocent people being killed I’m not surprised people have strong feelings about that”.

Asked whether the loss was linked to Sir Keir Starmer’s position on the conflict, Cllr Shah told the BBC: “I don’t think that’s a fair statement to make, given that the issue of Gaza has been over the last year but what we’ve seen in Oldham is a lot longer than that… what we have had is 13 years of austerity and that’s been really, really difficult.”

Labour’s majority on Oldham Council, which it has controlled since 2011, had already been whittled down to just one ahead of Thursday’s elections thanks to two defections last month.

Councillors Nyla Ibrahim and Akhtar Shoab left the party to sit as independents, reportedly citing Labour’s response to Gaza, with Cllr Ibrahim re-elected on Thursday.

Former Conservative Naveed Chowhan was also among the independents elected on Thursday, having left his party over Gaza alongside former Tory councillors Abdul Wahid and Mohammad Irfan.

Labour remains the largest party on Oldham Council with 27 out of 60 seats, while the number of independent councillors has risen to 16. There are also nine Liberal Democrats and eight Conservatives, meaning a coalition of opposition parties could topple the Labour administration.

Not all the independents elected on Thursday campaigned on Gaza, with representatives or former representatives of hyper-local parties elected in two wards.