Labour miss out on 'Burnham bounce'

A WARNING shot has been fired to Labour as the party suffered significant setbacks at the Greater Manchester local elections – despite a positive picture nationally.

- JOSEPH TIMAN

Labour has lost its majority at Oldham council, while George Galloway’s party ousted Manchester’s deputy leader, Luthfur Rahman.

The Workers Party of Britain, which Mr Galloway leads, only won two seats in Rochdale where the MP stormed to victory a by-election just two months ago. But independents gained seats from Labour elsewhere, leaving the party with fewer seats overall.

The war in Gaza, and anger over Labour’s stance on it, appears to have been a decisive factor with several successful independents gaining seats after campaigning in support of Palestine. Labour have only made gains in two Greater Manchester councils so far.

It comes as Labour’s Andy Burnham is expected to secure a third term as Greater Manchester mayor today.

But the ‘Burnham bounce’ which was credited for boosting Labour’s vote at local elections in 2021 did not pay the same dividends this time.

Labour has been losing seats in Oldham for some time and saw its majority shrink to just one after two councillors quit the party weeks before the election after criticising the leadership for its stance on the Middle East conflict. Oldham council leader Arooj Shah admitted that the war in Gaza was a factor in Labour’s overall loss of five seats, but accused her opponents of ‘exploiting’ the issue.

She said: “When you look at the situation in Palestine, which has been horrific, people have clearly voiced concerns. We called for a ceasefire with Andy Burnham and the other leaders across Greater Manchester very early on when this tragedy began.