Death threats, 'conspiracy theories' and police escorts – an ousted ex-leader has revealed what it’s really like heading up Oldham council.
The election curse afflicting the borough’s leaders struck again last week, with Amanda Chadderton becoming the third Labour boss in three years to be unseated.
She came fourth in Royton South in the local elections, 21 votes short of third place which would have secured her one of the three seats for the ward in the chamber.
Ms Chadderton polled 923 votes, compared to first place winner and political newcomer, independent Maggie Hurley with 1,039.
READ MORE: Oldham Labour leadership to be decided tonight
The former councillor, who was first elected in 2011 aged 25, took up the role of leader in May last year, after previous incumbent Arooj Shah also lost her seat. Ms Shah had taken over from Sean Fielding, who was defeated in the 2021 local elections.
The borough’s first openly gay leader, Ms Chadderton said the discourse in Oldham – especially on social media – had become ‘toxic’, especially during the election campaign.
Ms Chadderton told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It was always going to be difficult - I knew that. We are an outlier that we’ve lost three leaders in three years, and there’s absolutely no denying that.
“I’m very personally resilient and I try not to get sucked into it, but the reality is, I have death threats, my house is double alarmed, I carry a police alarm. The police have had to follow me home so no one else follows me home.”
It was the first election to take place following on from the independent 'assurance review' into child sexual exploitation (CSE) in the borough which was published last summer.
However, the review team found no evidence of a widespread cover-up of sexual exploitation.
The issue of grooming and sexual exploitation of children was frequently raised as would-be councillors hit the streets ahead of polling day.
Ms Chadderton said she's been accused of being a 'groomer' and a 'paedo protector', with accusations she's 'hiding grooming gangs'.
“It’s a conspiracy theory," she added. “We had a report that said in black and white there was no cover-up.
“The problem is in Oldham it’s become so toxic over the past few years and that is the reason that I’m the third leader that has lost, and why we do lose seats.
“It’s difficult to counteract because some of it is a conspiracy theory, [some of it is] dog-whistle politics, some of it is overtly racist and I’ve seen that in previous years. It’s a kind of politics that appeals to the lowest common denominator.”
On whether she would consider standing again, following the example of previous leader Arooj Shah, who was elected as councillor in St Mary’s ward this time round, Ms Chadderton is undecided.
“For now, I’ll probably get my life back. I’ll be happy not to be harassed on the internet non-stop,” she said.
“I’ll be happy to be able to go to the pub and not to scan the pub thinking ‘is there someone in here who doesn’t like me’, or is something going to happen.
“I’ll get time back with my daughter. And I’ll see in 12 months time. It’s hard work, and it’s hard work in Oldham.
“I’ve absolutely loved being a councillor in Royton and being leader was my dream job. But being a councillor in Oldham and putting yourself up to that level of scrutiny comes at quite a large personal cost.
“But if I look back, I don’t regret standing for leader. Politics is a popularity contest and it’s rush when you win and it’s a lot less of a rush when you don’t win. But that’s the nature of the game.”
In terms of who takes over at the helm of the Labour group now, Ms Chadderton said there is question of ‘what does Oldham Labour group stand for, and how do [they] move away from the shadow of the past?’.
“Because the group and the council have to move forward,” she added. “We cannot look backwards for the answer to that.”
The election on May 4 was the first all-out contest in the borough for nearly two decades where all 60 seats went to the ballot box.
In total Labour managed to secure 32 seats, but their majority has been slashed from five to just two, meaning the borough teeters on the verge of no overall control.
The make-up of the town hall is now 32 Labour members, 11 Conservatives, 10 Liberal Democrats, three Failsworth Independent Party members and four independents.
Oldham’s new leader is set to be decided tonight (Tuesday). The LDRS understands it will come down to a two-horse race between former leader Coun Shah and Coun Peter Davis.
Coun Shah had been running the local authority as leader from May 2021, the first Muslim woman to do so in the north, but lost her seat in Chadderton South in the local elections last year.
She was elected back to the chamber in St Mary’s this time round with a huge 2,743 votes, coming first place in the ward. This means she won’t be up for election again until 2027.
The other main contender for the leadership, Coun Davis is also making a comeback to the council chamber after losing his seat in 2022 to the Failsworth Independent Party.
He successfully won his seat back for Labour in Failsworth West in this year’s contest, polling second place with 929 votes. He will be safe from re-election until 2026.
Next year’s normal local election – with one third of councillors going to the polls – is likely to be at the forefront of members’ minds when deciding a new leader.
Especially as 12 Labour councillors who placed third in their wards will face re-election.
And the pressure is on as if the party loses just two seats Oldham council would go into no-overall-control for the first time since 2011.
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