Key battles as region goes to the polls

TWO MAYORAL ROLES ALSO ON THE LINE ON BIG NIGHT IN GREATER MANCHESTER

- CHRIS GEE, JOSEPH TIMAN, ETHAN DAVIES, NICK JACKSON, GEORGE LYTHGOE, DECLAN CAREY, & CHARLOTTE HALL

GREATER Manchester is in store for a big night at the local elections. All 10 councils will be holding elections today 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 tomorrow morning. 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 tomorrow – including Manchester and Rochdale where MP George Galloway’s party has been heavily targeting.

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, the winners of the two mayoral contests will be declared with the final set of results coming from Salford council on Sunday.

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.

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.