Labour lost some seats and won others - but remain in control of Rochdale council, as they have done since 2011. But the story of the night was the inroads made by the new kids on the block, the Middleton Independents Party, which fielded 15 candidates in five wards.
They took five seats and gave Labour a real scare. Labour leader Neil Emmott held on in West Middleton, but only by 150 votes.
Following a night of few shocks - when all 60 seats were up for grabs rather than the usual 20 following boundary changes - Labour lost six seats, but gained another four, leaving them with 42 seats and easily the biggest party in the borough.
The Lib Dems, once such a power in Rochdale, had hoped to do more than just hold onto the seats they already had. The Tories lost two seats but gained one - Peter Reid, in Littleborough Lakeside, leaving the party with 10 seats, one less than previously.
Before the count, Labour had 44 councillors, followed by the Tories on 11 and the Lib Dems on four. The town hall had just one independent, Kath Nickson, who had previously represented Labour, the Lib Dems, the Brexit Party and the Conservatives.
She left each party in turn, finally exiting the Tory party in 2021. She didn't stand for re-election in the Balderstone and Kirkholt ward.
The fledgling Middleton Independents Party (MIP) only formed in January this year. Chairman Peter Shore’s ambition was to take eight out of 15 Middleton wards in order to take over the township. He vowed to 'shock' Labour.
He said: "We only intended to put one candidate in each ward, but we managed 15, winning five. This definitely gives us the confidence to keep going now, this is where the work starts. We’ve learned so much in a short period of time and we will target even more seats next year. I’m absolutely over the moon with how we’ve done."
In North Middleton, there was a tie for the third councillor spot with MIP’s Keely O’Mara and Lee Wolf both gaining 1,059 votes. Lots had to be drawn with Lee Wolf, along with Labour’s deputy leader Sara Rowbotham and MIP’s Peter Allonby, picking up the third seat in the ward.
Council leader Neil Emmott fought off MIP in West Middleton which remained Labour, but he only beat the nearest MIP candidate by 150 votes. He struck a defiant tone after the count, saying: "We're disappointed to lose a few seats to the Middleton Independents, but we will come back fighting next year for those seats. They've made a lot of promises so let's see if they can deliver on them."
The Conservatives held onto both Bamford and Norden. Heywood and Middleton MP Chris Clarkson was in attendance at the count at Heywood Sports Village, and told the Manchester Evening News he was ‘really pleased with the results’.
He said: "I put this down to the hard work, I’ve been chuffed to see how hard everyone has worked. It’s a shame we didn’t get a win in Hopwood Hall as we worked really hard there too but we were let down by national events.
“I’m chuffed for MIP and am looking forward to working with them. Middleton has been taken for granted and I will welcome working with people who really care about Middleton because Labour didn’t want to work with me in the past.”
Another interesting battleground was Smallbridge and Firgrove, where leading Labour group figure John Blundell comfortably held onto his seat. Coun Blundell polled 1,312 votes, one of the three Labour candidates who fended off a challenge from the Liberal Democrats in that ward.
In the Littleborough Lakeside ward, the three Tory candidates went into the election confident of ousting the three siting Labour councillors, believing residents were more concerned about plans for more housing than Boris Johnson attending Downing Street parties during lockdown. In the end they unseated just the one Labour candidate.
Controversial Labour plans to develop the area around the railway station were opposed by the Tories. Some parts of the scheme were pulled in March. Labour also backed plans to build hundreds of new houses around Littleborough. Plans for a new housing estate were approved in 2019 despite flooding fears.
Labour candidates Tom Besford and Janet Emsley took two of the seats and only one of the Tories, Peter Reid, was voted in, beating the third Labour candidate by a 296 votes.
Tory group leader Ashley Dearnley, who was returned in Wardle, alongside two other Conservative candidates, with a whopping 1,881 votes, said: "I'm delighted we held onto the seats we had. We would have hoped to have won more. We'll be working hard again to win more of these seats next year. I think at a time when, nationally, we are not popular, it's really good news we've held onto what we've got here and made, albeit small, some gains."
Former Labour group leader Allen Brett, who was a councillor in Milkstone and Deeplish, stood in Milnrow and Newhey, where he polled 741 votes, and so was soundly beaten by the three Lib Dems.
Lib Dem group leader Andy Kelly conceded he would have liked more than to simply retain three seats. He said: "I'm disappointed we didn't make any gains, obviously. However, our vote share has gone up in practically every ward. We'll have to wait for the dust to settle and make decisions about how we will campaign going forward. It's going in the right direction but it's disappointing we couldn't get more."
New make-up of the town hall:
Labour 42 (-2)
Conservatives 10 (-1)
Lib Dems 3 (-1)
Middleton Independents 5 (+5)
Independent - 1 (did not stand for re-election)
