A fledgling political party has been officially registered by the Electoral Commission ahead of this year's local elections.
Middleton Independents Party (MIP) - which believes the town has played the ‘poor relation’ to Rochdale for too long - plans to field 15 candidates across five wards in May. Rochdale council is holding an ‘all-out’ election this year - rather than the usual third of seats being up for grabs -meaning the chances of a major political shake up are much higher.
‘MIP’ was unsure whether it would be registered in time to contest the election under its own name - or have to stand as individual independents - after just missing the deadline for applications. However, the Electoral Commission has now confirmed the hyperlocal group has been registered as of March 9, making it a ‘bona fide’ political party.
