Labour tightened their grip on Bury Council on a day which exceeded the expectations of the party’s leader Mike Connolly.
Coun Connolly knew before a single ballot had been counted that it was mathematically impossible to lose control of the authority.
Hi main hope was that the party’s vote would hold out across the borough, especially in the wake of UKIP’s shock results in Bolton a few hours earlier and ahead of next year’s General Election.
They did more than maintain their vote, taking two wards from the Conservatives and one from Liberal Democrats in the council elections.
In a borough well known for tight-run elections – one seat and subsequently the council was decided on the drawing of lots just a few years ago – there was always going to be some drama.
It came right down the wire in Pilkington Park where just 19 votes separated the front runners.
Tensions were high when a recount was announced early in the afternoon.
Red and blue were on tenterhooks as the voting was announced – unsurprising, since in 2012 the Tories won by only 45 votes.
But Labour’s John Mallon snatched victory from Cllr Bernie Vincent by a miniscule 19-vote margin.
He said: “It was very unnerving when they announced the votes were being recounted,” Cllr Mallon said, “and we won by a margin of 19!
“It was a very close result, but after the last three years, 19 feels like a massive majority.”
In East, retired postman Trevor Holt delivered a victory for Labour. The candidate, who was first selected in 1983 attained 1494 votes and triumphed over UKIP representative Shaf Mahmood who received 682 votes.
Eamonn O’Brien, who nabbed the Lib Dem seat in St Mary’s with 1381 votes, said: “We’ve been working towards this for three years now – you just work hard and hope that at crunch time it pays off.”
There was a similar victory in the Elton ward where Labour candidate Sarah Kerrison took the seat from the Conservatives beating incumbent Michael Hankey into second in another close call, with only 78 votes between them.
Mr Hankey was hoping to hang on to his slim majority, but a big row over a government decision to forcibly turn the area’s primary into an academy may have sealed his fate.
A tweet was sent by Labour Councillor James Frith congratulating Cllr Kerrison on her win before it was announced raised questions and prompted a furious response from the Tories.
But, Cllr Frith is not expected to face any sanctions as the tweet in question does not break any election rules by virtue of the fact the number of votes was not published before the returning officer’s announcement.
Although they did not win any seats, UKIP candidate Victor Hagan came second in the Moorside with 756 votes.
Hagan was pleased with the support he had received and said: “To see these numbers in Bury shows the real impact we’re having. In some places our support has doubled.”
Cllr Connolly disagreed and said he was unconvinced that UKIP posed his party a real threat in Bury.
He said: “UKIP haven’t made the breakthrough here in Bury that they’ve made in other towns. They’ve not made the inroads here that they wanted to – that they needed to.
“I’m not so sure it’s a long term threat here to be honest.”
The Lib Dems performed badly overall.
Timothy Pickstone held his seat in Holyrood with 1800 votes, but the Lib Dems did abysmally in the Radcliffe West, and actually had the counting hall laughing when it was announced that they had received just 33 votes in Ramsbottom
Sarah Nuttall had a far more a successful day, keeping hold of the Conservative seat in Church ward.
The wife of Bury North MP David received 1944 votes and he will be hoping the Tory vote holds out when he faces re-election to parliament in 12 months time.
There were celebrations too for the Greens, who received more votes than the Lib Dems in almost every ward, and birthday boy Paul Adams who was treated to a rendition of Happy Birthday by his Labour colleagues after winning the Unsworth seat.
The results mean that Labour now have a commanding majority of 25 seats – control 38 in total – with the Tories on 11 and the Lib Dems and the Independents with one each.
Besses Labour hold
Mary Whitby LAB 1313
Zadok Day CON 479
Stephen Morris ED 412
Larissa Heath GRN 172
Steve Middleton LD 127
Church Conservative hold
Susan Nuttall CON 1944
Andrew McAnulty LAB 1216
Patrick Neill GRN 309
Ann Garner LD 105
East Labour hold
Trevor Holt LAB 1494
Shaf Mahmood UKIP 682
Gregory Keeley CON 384
Eva Stewart GRN 137
Elton Labour gain from Conservatives
Sarah Kerrison LAB 1153
Michael Hankey CON 1075
Graeme Kerby UKIP 726
Julie Southworth GRN 159
Andrew Garner LD 93
Holyrood Lib Dem hold
Timothy Pickstone LD 1800
Catherine Preston LAB 1458
Zain Shah CON 315
Moorside Labour hold
Sandra Walmsley LAB 1495
Victor Hagan UKIP 756
Nabila Afilal CON 469
Anne Beckett GRN 155
North Manor Conservative hold
James Daly CON 1781
Steven Treadgold LAB 816
Tanya Kay UKIP 583
Mary Heath GRN 221
Ewan Arthur LD 137
Pilkington Park Labour gain from Conservative
John Mallon LAB 1168
Bernie Vincent CON 1149
John Parkinson UKIP 392
Peter Curati GRN 118
Wilfrid Davison LD 102
Radcliffe East Labour hold
Nick Parnell LAB 1299
Samantha Davies CON 763
Nicole Haydock GRN 368
Joanne O’Hanlon LD 93
Radcliffe North Labour hold
Jane Lewis LAB 1480
Carl Curran CON 1005
John Southworth GRN 361
Rodney Rew LD 168
Radcliffe West Labour hold
Rishi Shori LAB 1361
Katy Rothwell CON 619
Stephen Dillon GRN 303
Kamran Islam LD 62
Ramsbottom Conservative hold
Ian Bevan CON 1717
Sarah Southworth LAB 1206
David Barker UKIP 574
Glyn Heath GRN 115
Mary D’Albert LD 33
Redvales Labour hold
Tamoor Tariq LAB 1691
Mike Harling UKIP 820
Luis McBriar CON 521
Bill Brison GRN 168
Gareth Lloyd-Johnson LD 107
Sedgley Labour hold
Alan Quinn LAB 1903
David Lewis CON 750
Steven Wright LD 340
Kamila Laing GRN 307
Tottington Conservative hold
Iain Gartside CON 1295
Judith Kelly LAB 1019
Walter Southworth UKIP 605
Zarrin Shannon GRN 109
David Foss LD 88
Unsworth Labour hold
Paul Adams LAB 1379
Richard Cowen CON 745
Steve Evans UKIP 583
Valerie Morris ED 102
Katriona Middleton LD 77
Picture courtesy of Ingy the Wingy, with thanks.
