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Oldham council elections 2014 round-up: UKIP bag two seats as Labour remain bullish that vote will hold out

Just hours after securing their first council seats in Greater Manchester with victories in Bolton, UKIP snatched two more in Oldham to send shockwaves through the three main political parties.

Warren Bates and Peter Klonowski took Failsworth West from Labour and Saddleworth West and Lees from the Lib Dems respectively as voters across the region kicked back against the three-party monopoly.

After securing his seat, Cllr Bates – who spent 60 years as a Labour party member – was bullish about his hopes for the town’s future.

“My priority is to get this town back and move it to what it used to be,” he told MM.

“It’s absolutely frightening what they have done to it and all the three main parties are responsible.

“I was in the Labour party for 60 years and as far as I’m concerned UKIP is the only party of hope.”

Despite Councillor Bates’ taunts, it was Labour who claimed the two seats on offer at the St James ward with Ginny Alexander and Angela Cosgrove prevailing, the latter beating UKIP’s Joseph Fitzpatrick by just 35 votes.

In the final vote of the day, Labour scored another victory over UKIP after a recount for the Chadderton South seat, Joy Wrigglesworth pipping UKIP’s Steven Connor by just 12 votes.

Although UKIP won just two seats, they were second in 14 out of the 20 votes in Oldham, showing a groundswell of support for Nigel Farage’s party, which has been reflected across the country.

Independent winner Nicola Kirkham also spoke of the need for a new direction on Oldham council following her resounding 478-vote victory in Saddleworth North.

“We are going to listen to the people of Saddleworth and give them what they want,” she told MM.

“Unfortunately with Labour having a majority on Oldham council nobody is listening to the people of Saddleworth.

“We are a cash cow for Oldham Council and it needs to change and the people have spoken and they want change.

“They want Oldham council to listen to them on planning issues and on greenbelt issues it is wrong what is happening we are just get ignored up in Saddleworth.”

Councillor Kirkham declined to comment on UKIP but did say the amount of votes they received showed people’s disenchantment with the main three parties.

“It is absolutely a wake-up call for the three main parties,” she added.

“I hope they are not arrogant enough to think it is not, because it is and we are just trying to get more Independent seats on Oldham Council now.”

The overall results saw Labour increase their number of seats on Oldham council from 43 to 45, while the Liberal Democrats had a disastrous day losing four seats, meaning they now have just ten left.

Successful Labour candidate for Coldhurst, Abdul Malik, reflected afterwards on what he felt was a job well done for his party.

“People know the Labour Party is working for the betterment of the residents of Oldham,” he told MM.

“We kept stressing that we should not be complacent and not take things for granted.

“The key reason for us winning is we fulfilled the promises we made last time.”

Alexandra (Labour hold)

Shaid Mushtaq, LAB 1387

David Carter, UKIP 671

Mohammed Masud, LD 582

Terry Hopkinson, CON 112

Rebecca McGladdery, IND 81

 

Chadderton Central (Labour hold)

Colin McLaren, LAB 1287

Vivien Swift, UKIP 946

Robert Barnes, CON 540

Louie Hamblett, LD 81

 

Chadderton North (Labour hold)

Barbara Brownridge, LAB 1420

John Berry, UKIP 785

Paul Martin, CON 579

Keith Taylor, LD 75

 

Chadderton South (Labour hold)

Joy Wrigglesworth, LAB 960

Steve Connor, UKIP 948

Eileen Hulme, CON 287

Melodey Walker, GRN 134

Kevin Dawson, LD 39

 

Coldhurst (Labour hold)

Abdul Malik, LAB 2781

Sean Curley, CON 279

Keith Pendlebury, LD 273

Md Shahid Miah, IND 242

 

Crompton (Lib Dem hold)

Dave Murphy, LD 889

Derek Fletcher, UKIP 742

Ken Rustidge, LAB 697

Phelyp Bennett, CON 490

Catherine Hunter, GRN 77

 

Failsworth East (Labour hold)

Norman Briggs, LAB 1055

Joan Spencer, UKIP 785

Adam Carney, CON 284

Andrew Rossall, GRN 93

Bill Cullen, LD 24

 

Failsworth West (UKIP gain from Labour)

Warren Bates, UKIP 1120

John Battye, LAB 988

Steven Cox, CON 225

Jean Betteridge, GRN 126

Sam Pennington, TUSC 59

Enid Firth, LD 29

 

Hollinwood (Labour hold)

Jean Stretton, LAB 1904

Thomas Eddleston, UKIP 813

David Caddick, CON 155

Martin Dinoff, LD 112

 

Medlock Vale (Labour hold)

Yasmin Toor, LAB 1511

Jean Eddleston, UKIP 836

Zulfiqar Mohammed, CON 748

John Hall, LD 113

 

Royton North (Labour hold)

Hannah Roberts LAB 1147

Kevin Allen, UKIP 979

Lewis Quigg, CON 542

Shaun Duffy, LD 51

 

Royton South (Labour hold)

Marie Bashforth, LAB 1205

Jackie Garnett, UKIP 770

Allan Fish, CON 417

Jim Stidworthy, GRN 103

Angie Farrell, LD 80

 

Saddleworth North (Independent gain from Lib Dem)

Nikki Kirkham, IND 1146

Alan Roughley, LD 669

Angela Clark, UKIP 526

Paul Fryer, LAB 430

Nicola Jeffery-Sykes, CON 370

 

Saddleworth South (Lib Dem hold)

John McCann, LD 967

Pam Byrne, CON 816

Lesley Brown, IND 539

Ian Manners, LAB 517

Chris Shyne, UKIP 506

 

Saddleworth West and Lees (UKIP gain from Lib Dem)

Peter Klonowski, UKIP 917

Robert Allsopp, LD 778

Stephen Hewitt, LAB 733

Neil Allsopp, CON 383

Oliver Thompson, GRN 147

 

Shaw (Lib Dem hold)

Rod Blyth, LD 1106

Peter Brown, UKIP 704

Hermione St John-Spiggott, LAB 548

Judith Haughton, CON 222

 

St. James’ (two seats, both Labour gain from Lib Dem)

Ginny Alexander, LAB 831

Angela Cosgrove, LAB 689

Joseph Fitzpatrick, UKIP 654

Muriel Taylor, UKIP 605

Roger Hindle, LD 489

Stephen Barrow, LD 460

Edna Wolstenhulme, CON 146

Roger Pakeman, GRN 131

 

St. Mary’s (Labour hold)

Ali Salamat, LAB 2900

David Atherton, CON 213

Sharon McGladdery, LD 211

Miranda Meadowcroft, GRN 204

 

Waterhead (Labour gain from Lib Dem)

Riaz Ahmad, LAB 1198

Nicholas Godleman, UKIP 755

Linda Dawson, LD 687

Sarah Afzaal, CON 131

 

Werneth (Labour hold)

Shoab Akhtar, LAB 3074

Michele Stockton, CON 193

Ron Wise, LD 137

Full breakdown of results and more reaction to follow through the day. Check back for updates.

Picture courtesy of Mikey, with thanks

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