Days away from Oldham’s biggest election for nearly two decades, the mood on the streets is one of political apathy and and mistrust.
From 7am on Thursday, May 4, residents will go to the polls for their first all-out election since 2004.
Recent elections in the borough where just a third of seats were up for grabs have resulted in significant political upheaval, with two council leaders being dethroned in successive years.
So an all-out election, where all 60 seats on the council will be voted on, will be a nervous test for the ruling majority Labour group.
READ MORE: All the candidates standing at the 2023 local elections in Oldham
In particular eyes will be on Royton South to see if current leader Amanda Chadderton can buck the trend of her short-lived leadership predecessors Arooj Shah and Sean Fielding and hang on to her elected role against threats from emerging independents.
Currently the town hall is made up of 35 Labour members, nine Conservatives, nine Liberal Democrats, five Failsworth Independent Party members and two independents.
While on the face of it, the Greater Manchester authority appears firmly red, in recent years alternative parties have made creeping gains into Labour’s majority.
If the party were to lose five seats or more at Thursday’s election, the council would go into no overall control. Although it would likely still be run as a Labour administration, any alliance between opposition groups could present a stronger challenge.
With more than 200 candidate standing across the 20 wards, which each contain three seats, voters certainly have a smorgasbord of political flavours to choose from.
But many people stopped by the Local Democracy Reporting Service say that they are boycotting the ballot box. ‘Pointless’ is how numerous residents describe the upcoming election.
Outside Spindles shopping centre Oldhamer Pat Mercer, 82, is a former Labour voter but says she won’t be turning up at the ballot box this time. But although sitting it out, she hopes the all-out election might deliver a shake-up of Oldham politics.
“I am not voting because it’s just a waste of time, things have just got worse,” she explains. “I don’t feel represented by the candidates who are standing.
“It’s gone now, Oldham, from years ago – it’s so different now. The council, you can’t even get them to come and look at your house never mind do anything here.
“No matter who gets in, Labour or Conservative they don’t do what they promise they are going to do.”
This year’s election will also be different as under new legislation residents will be required to show photo identification at their polling station to be able to vote.
Speaking outside Oldham Library, Royton resident Clive Barker believes that areas like Oldham could be disproportionally affected by the need to show ID, which could lead to a lower turn-out and people being turned away.
“Oldham is one of the more deprived areas and you’re going to see the effect of voter ID this time. It could have a big impact,” he says.
Clive won’t be drawn on who he plans to back at the ballot box but says his votes will be determined by factors such as the environment and housing developments coming forward for green spaces in Oldham.
The 69-year-old believes it’s positive in principle that so many independent candidates are running in the election, but adds: “It’s a matter of what these people stand for – they say they are independent but what are their policies really for? You see right-wing parties call themselves different names, people get taken in.”
Michael Chandler, out in Oldham town centre, also predicts the introduction of an ID check will cause problems when it comes to voting day. “My son, he doesn’t have photo ID,” he says.
His friend adds: “It will be interesting to see how many people get turned away. It’s going to be a nightmare.”
Michael takes a dim view of politics, both locally and nationally. “They don’t listen to what you tell them, voting is a waste of time.” he says. “You see more PCSOs around town then you ever do on my estate. How can you tell people what’s happening if they’re never there? The police say there’s no problems but how would they know?”
He is also less than impressed with council-led projects like the planned relocation of Tommyfield Market from Henshaw Street into the former TJ Hughes unit in Spindles.
“They say they are trying to improve it now, but it’s just making it worse,” the 66-year-old adds.
Melyvn Henthorn from Saddleworth is also unsure whether he will vote, and he shares concerns about the market move. “If I do I’ll be voting Conservative,” he says. “I can’t understand why anyone would want Labour.”
“I think it’s a disaster what they have done with our Tommyfield Market, they have just completely ruined it and now it’s a blessed car park and empty stalls,” the 81-year-old adds.
“Oldham used to be the best, up there with Bury. And now they have shut the Coliseum that was really popular. The town is going backwards.”
Both the Conservatives and the relatively new hyper-local party the Failsworth Independents won ground from their rivals in the May 2022 election – and will be hoping for a repeat this time round.
However a united opposition front may prove to be more unlikely following the fracturing of the Failsworth indies across the East and West wards earlier this year.
This has resulted in two Failsworth Independent Party councillors – Sandra Ball and Mark Wilkinson – standing in Failsworth under a general ‘independent’ banner rather than the party Mr Wilkinson helped to found.
Walking around Failsworth, there’s no indication an important election is just days away with little in the way of posters in windows or placards. “I don’t even know who my councillors are now, ” one woman out walking her dog says, when asked why she doesn’t vote.
Failsworth resident Marie Flynn says her family’s experience when her daughter, who lives outside of Oldham, was placed in unsuitable temporary accommodation has turned her off politics.
“They don’t get nowt done no matter who you vote for,” the 67-year-old says. “I always used to vote and then when I see my daughter homeless and where they have put her, I would never vote for anybody again.”
But amid the disengagement and distrust felt by many, some still think it’s important to have their say.
A woman outside Failsworth Health Centre, who asks not be named, says she is planning to vote and raises specific local issues as her election priorities. “Anti-social behaviour is a big problem in Failsworth and Oldham in general, and that needs to be tackled quite urgently actually,” she adds.
“It’s got worse in the last few years round here. There have been gangs of kids taking drugs in the car park and causing problems. Police are here quite a lot but only because there is trouble, and they lack resources.”
Waiting for a bus on Ashton Road West, John Crichton, 87, is also planning to vote and it will be ‘against Labour’. “I just don’t like Labour policies, they have made a mess of everything,” he says.
“I’d just like them to have some opposition. Rather than just these silly hair-brained schemes they sometimes come up with.”
Chadderton resident John is handing out leaflets for his local church in Oldham town centre. He says the biggest issue for him this election is the pressure on the NHS, specifically long waiting times.
“I have been on a waiting list since last year, not only me but a lot of people I have spoken to,” he says. “Something has to be done, maybe more medical practitioners, maybe more hospitals. At Oldham hospital it takes a long time to get anything done.”
Although the NHS is funded nationally, John hopes his local councillors could do more to petition for improvements for residents.
“I have not decided who to vote for,” the 65-year-old adds. “It’s important, you need to vote to engage the current people, the leadership, or if they are not doing a good job – to challenge them.”
Are Labour doing a good job in Oldham? John shrugs; ‘comme ci, comme ca’.
First-time voter Evan Hart, from Shaw, is keenly gearing up to vote – and although he doesn’t dislike much of what Labour is trying to do in Oldham, they won’t be getting his vote.
“I have always been a Conservative, but these areas always seem to be a safe seat. I am either going to vote Conservative or independent,” the 18-year-old says.
“I like some things that are being done by local independent people, they are trying to make the area better for the general populace.
“A lot of people don’t think that the elections can favour them, they feel like it’s just in thrall to the main groups but especially in the local elections it’s a lot more about the general people who are living here, they know what it’s like and are a lot more like you.
“I’m inclined a lot more to vote in this one because of that – I’m looking forward to it.”
Evan references the cost of living initiative launched by the council, which saw libraries like his local Shaw Library used as warm banks for people struggling with the rising cost of energy, adding: “I am not a fan of Labour, I won’t lie but I do like a lot of their policies in terms of how they do it. They are doing things actually that I do appreciate. But the political ideology of Labour is not what I align with.”
He adds he hopes that the political arena in Oldham and beyond can become less divisive and more tolerant of alternatives, which he thinks would encourage more people to vote.
“I feel like people shouldn’t get grief, everyone is entitled to their views,” Evan says. “The moment that we all come together and stop the animosity to voting itself around here, it will go a lot further.”
Polls open on Thursday at 7am and close at 10pm with counting to take place on Friday, May 5.
Read more of today's top stories here.
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