Head of Manchester's Tories on why his party hasn't elected a councillor in the city in nearly 30 years

You'd have to cast your mind back to the days of 'Cool Britannia' and Oasis' battles with Blur to top the charts to find the last time a Conservative was elected to Manchester city council.

Since 1996, when the party lost its two remaining elected town hall representatives, it's been fighting an ever-more uphill battle against an increasingly dominant Labour Party.

And looking across other big cities in the North the picture is similar, with no Conservative elected to Newcastle council in 30 years and the barren streak in Liverpool going back nearly as far.