'It feels like nothing ever gets done' – so voters opt for Reform

SANDWICHED between the M62 and Rochdale town centre, locals say Balderstone and Kirkholt is a proud community with working-class roots.

- BY DECLAN CAREY

The area found itself in the national spotlight last week as voters elected Reform UK's Jordan Tarrant-Short to represent them on Rochdale council, an event which the new councillor described as a 'real bloody nose' for the Labour Party.

The seat was up for grabs in a Rochdale council by-election on May 1 because former Labour councillor Elsie Blundell resigned after being elected as Heywood and Middleton MP last year.

Rochdale council is run by Labour, which controls 43 out of 60 seats.

On the ward boundary - Oldham Road high street - voters from Balderstone and Kirkholt told the Local Democracy Reporting Service they were 'fed up' with what they felt was a lack of positive change in the area.

Immigration, crime, jobs, and street cleaning were all issues which residents said were on their minds while casting ballots.

"I've gone off Labour, I really have," says Gillian McGuigan, who lives in the community. She voted for the Conservatives, but said she was not surprised that Reform won.

She said some in Balderstone and Kirkholt have a sense that basic issues that residents worry about are not being dealt with.

"There are so many different things that need doing, we have antisocial behaviour, speeding down our roads, there's drug dealing in the area, litter, but it feels like nothing is ever done," she said.