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Close… but no cigar: UKIP fail to break Labour’s Salford stronghold despite finishing runner-up in NINE wards

UKIP fell just short of their plans to force their way through Labour’s Salford stronghold, despite finishing runner-up in NINE wards.

Labour managed to keep hold of every one of their 52 council seats following the local election results, seeing off a strong threat from several UKIP candidates.

Ensure you follow MM’s live blog of all the results across Greater Manchester here.

Prior to the election, there had been much talk that UKIP may be able to force their way into the current set-up.

And they very nearly did, pushing their way into second place in Broughton, Claremont, Irwell Riverside, Kersal, Langworthy, Pendlebury, Swinton North, Swinton South and Walkden North.

UKIP candidate for Pendlebury, Paul Doyle, felt particularly confident going into the elections.

He told MM: “Three years ago, nobody knew who UKIP were and obviously that’s paying dividends, not just on a national level, it’s also resonating into local level as well.


LET DOWN: UKIP Pendlebury candidate, Paul Doyle said people’s trust in politicians have gone
 

“People are voting UKIP because they feel let down. They feel let down by the existing establishment in Salford, which is Labour.

“We can bring a bit of positivity for the people of Salford and belief back in local politics because a lot people don’t trust local politicians right now, a lot of people don’t even know who their local councillors are.

“There’s certainly no trust and we’re looking to bring that trust back to Salford.”

UKIP beat the Conservatives in nine of Salford’s 20 wards, and six of their candidates gained fewer votes than representatives of the Green Party and Trade Unionists & Socialists Against Cuts (TUSC), as well as one independent candidate.

Mary Ferrer, the UKIP candidate for Claremont, came particularly close in with 904 – obliterating the Conservative candidate Bob Goodall’s haul of 446, but falling short of Labour’s Sareda Dirir’s take of 1230

The figure was also a huge jump from the party’s 234 votes in the ward in 2012.

Speaking prior to the results, Goodall told MM he did not think Ferrer would take the seat.

“Its mid-term elections – so you have to expect a protest vote [for UKIP]. I don’t think UKIP will get Claremont, I think Labour may hold it with a very much reduced margin,” said Goodall.

“I knew there was going to be a protest; I knew the government might be blamed for all the ills. But we’re here and are trying to provide solutions – and our local candidates will be doing just that.

“The Conservatives are trying to build a party in the area and we’ve been well received, so I hope we’re going to do rather well and be encouraged by that vote.”

The three Conservatives running for re-election all held onto their seats, despite concerns that national government policy would cost them dear.

It was a close affair for Councillor Les Turner, deputy leader of the Salford Conservatives, who was re-elected in Walkden South by a mere 81 votes from Labour’s Robert Sharpe.


ECSTATIC: Conservative candidate for Claremont, Bob Goodall was delighted with victory
 

In reaction to the result, Mr Turner told MM: “I’m ecstatic. It’s the eighth year in Walkden South for me, and I’m so pleased that the people have given me their vote again.

“I didn’t expect it to be quite so close,” he added. “I’ve kept my seat, which I think was more on what I’ve done in the community than the political part.

“I will be trying to get the things done that people want me to do, whether it’s favourable or not to the administration.”

Salford’s results reflected the national pattern of local election results to some extent, with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats performing poorly across the board.

The latter party had only two candidates in the running, garnering a mere 439 votes between them.

And it was not only UKIP who upset the Conservative apple cart.

Tory candidates gained fewer votes than the Green Party in Broughton, Irwell Riverside and Ordsall, TUSC in Little Hulton, independent candidate Paul Doyle in Winton, and their Irlam candidate Noel Gaskell was just 23 votes ahead of Jackie Anderson, of the newly-formed Reality Party.

The Reality Party, started by Happy Mondays maraca player Mark Berry, also known as Bez, came into the elections with realistic expectations, given that they only started the party two months ago.


FIGHTING FOR OUR FUTURE: Bez said the future could be ‘terrible’
 

“The launch eight weeks ago was really good – there were a lot of different people and people came from all over the country, which was quite surprising,” Bez told MM.

“People are actually listening to what we’ve got to say and our ideals.”

Speaking before the results were announced, Jackie said: “Irrespective of what happens today, we’ve only just started so by the time we get to the local and national elections next year and this is the first proper day of our campaign.”

Voting turnouts for the election were some of the lowest in the region, with 29.58% of the electorate turning out to vote, casting 52,860 votes

Salford’s mayor, Ian Stewart, was particularly disappointed with voter turn-outs.


DISAPPOINTED: Mayor Stewart said the turnouts are worrying
 

He told MM: “If we have turnouts like this in a general election, then we’re in real trouble as a country.

“It’s not uncommon in places like Salford in local elections to have very low turnouts, so it’s not a bad turnout, though it could have been better. That’s for us as politicians to raise awareness of the importance of voting for the people of this city.

“To be blunt, if people don’t vote then they don’t have a great shout when things are decided by politicians they don’t like.

“If they’ve voted for the politicians and they don’t like it then they can vote the politicians out at the next election.”

The results of the European elections will be made available on Sunday.

 

Barton (Labour hold)

David Jolley LAB 1534

Hilary Brunyee CON 498

Susan Wright TUSC 484

 

Boothstown and Ellenbrook (Conservative hold)

Jillian Collinson CON 1117

Mike Pevitt LAB 723

David Wibberley UKIP 554

Diana Battersby GRN 258

 

Broughton (Labour hold)

John Merry LAB 1662

Chavi Odze UKIP 685

David Jones GRN 189

Glenis Purcell CON 183

Alan Metcalfe TUSC 57

 

Cadishead (Labour hold)

Christine Hudson LAB 1353

Dorothy Chapman CON 519

Brenda Leather BNP 397

Diane Cawood TUSC 187

 

Claremont (Labour hold)

Sareda Dirir LAB 1230

Mary Ferrer UKIP 904

Bob Goodall CON 446

Rene Iacopini GRN 163

Ronnie Benjamin LD 142

Matthew Kilsby TUSC 52

 

Eccles (Labour hold)

Michael Wheeler LAB 1861

Julie Fensome CON 827

Val Kelly LD 297

 

Irlam(Labour hold)

Roger Jones LAB 1177

Noel Gaskell CON 393

Jackie Anderson Reality 370

Glenn Croston IND 147

 

Irwell Riverside (Labour hold)

Jane Hamilton LAB 1044

Janice Taylor UKIP 464

Emma Van Dyke GRN 233

Helen Vaudrey CON 194

Graham Cooper TUSC 110

Gary Tumulty BNP 73

 

Kersal (Labour hold)

Ann-Marie Humphreys LAB 1549

Shneur Odze UKIP 781

Christopher Davies CON 504

 

Langworthy (Labour hold)

John Warmisham LAB 1250

Andy Olsen UKIP 884

Arnold Saunders CON 207

Kay Pollitt BNP 86

Mike Yarwood Motor 50

 

Little Hulton (Labour hold)

Eric Burgoyne LAB 1331

Terry Simmons TUSC 460

Alexandra Paterson CON 401

 

Ordsall (Labour hold)

Tanya Burch LAB 1468

Jim Alayo-Arnabat GRN 518

Nicolette Turner CON 457

Sally Griffiths TUSC 206

 

Pendlebury (Labour hold)

Bernard Lea LAB 1360

Paul Doyle UKIP 872

James Macdonald CON 410

Eddy O’Sullivan BNP 122

 

Swinton North (Labour hold)

Bill Hinds LAB) 1336

Glyn Wright UKIP 770

Sharon Bulmer CON 479

Paul Officer ED 115

 

Swinton South (Labour hold)

Howard Balkind LAB 1004

Joe O’Neill UKIP 874

Anne Broomhead CON 435

Steve Cullen TUSC 108

 

Walkden North (Labour hold)

Adrian Brocklehurst LAB 1144

Bernard Gill UKIP 717

Daniel Hill CON 261

Tom Dylan GRN 116

Laurence Depares (ED) 84

Paul Woodburn (IND) 31

 

Walkden South (Conservative hold)

Les Turner CON 1186

Robert Sharpe LAB 1105

Albert Redshaw UKIP 626

Matthew Clark GRN 145

Paul Whitelegg (ED) 55

 

Weaste and Seedley (Labour hold)

Ronnie Wilson LAB 1401

Adam Kennaugh CON 578

Paul Quinn TUSC 486

 

Winton (Labour hold)

Margaret Morris LAB 1363

Paul Doyle IND 527

Andrew Darlington CON 405

Wayne Tomlinson (BNP) 323

 

Worsley(Conservative hold)

Graham Compton CON 1520

Amy Coffey LAB 718

Andrew Townsend UKIP 609

Christopher Bertenshaw GRN 262

Main image courtesy of SalfordCityCouncil, with thanks. Additional images courtesy of Mike Taylor, with thanks.

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