Voters go to the polls in the Stretford and Urmston by-election on Thursday (December 15) forced by the stepping down of sitting Labour MP Kate Green. First elected in 2010, Ms Green is to replace Baroness Beverley Hughes as Greater Manchester's deputy mayor for policing, crime, criminal justice and fire under metro mayor Andy Burnham.
In the 2019 General Election when Boris Johnson won convincingly, Ms Green held the seat with more than twice the votes than her nearest rival, a Conservative. With Labour holding 40 council seats in the borough of Trafford to the Conservatives' 13, the Liberal Democrats' five and the Green Party's four, and with Sir Keir Starmer's party riding high in the national polls anything other than a Labour win would be a major shock.
The Labour candidate is the 37-year-old current leader of Trafford council Andrew Western who has twice unsuccessfully stood in the neighbouring constituency of Altrincham and Sale West, - in 2017 and 2019 - although he has reduced the Tory majority on both occasions. He says his key priorities include supporting children and young people - providing more affordable and social housing - and delivering sustainable economic regeneration throughout Trafford.
