The Zanu Labour gravy train in the
one-party state of Tameside, has come to an abrupt end. Reform UK won 18 of the
19 seats up for grabs in the May 2026 local elections for Tameside Council, in
Greater Manchester. The council had been Labour controlled for 47 years.
Labour still remains the largest party on the council but has lost overall control and will now have to team up with other councillors. Although Reform UK are now the official opposition, it's likely that Labour will seek the support of the independent group of councillors who now effectively hold the balance of power on Tameside Council. These independent councillors are unlikely to want the current Labour leader, councillor Eleanor Wills to remain as leader, because she was never elected as the Labour leader, but appointed by Labour's NEC who have been running the council and selecting the Labour candidates.
It was expected that Tameside voters would give Labour a bloody nose because of the Starmer effect, but there were also local issues that people were unhappy with. The closure of Ashton swimming baths, pot holes and the state of Ashton market ground, have definitely lost Labour votes. In Stalybridge, the council have closed Armentieres Square for road works and repairs which was used as a central bus location in the town. Bus services have had to re-route and are changing routes all the time which is confusing people who are trying to catch a bus.
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1 comment:
The general experience of Reform councillors throughout the UK is not impressive at all. Whilst on the one hand I see it as a positive that the local Labour dominance has been dismantled, I find it incomprehensible that the people of Tameside believe that the election of Reform councillors will improve matters. What is their policy framework? I have been conducting some research on Reforms national policies of housing, social security, the NHS and education. All of their positions are counterproductive to the aspirations of most of those who voted for them. I'm just hopeful that their vacuous policy content in respect of the needs of many in our society will be exposed over the next three years.
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