Oldham Council remains firmly in Labour’s grip after last night’s 2022 local elections count.
Reporter: Simon Smedley
Date published: 06 May 2022
Having gone into the count holding 40 seats out of 60 on the council, Labour now boast 35, with the local Conservatives and Liberal Democrats both holding nine having gained one each.
The Failsworth Independent Party gained two seats so now hold five on the council, with Independents now holding two, having gained one seat.
However, the big news of the night was that Oldham Council Leader Arooj Shah lost her Chadderton South seat, by 96 votes, to Conservative candidate Robert Barnes.
That was the second consecutive year that the Labour Council Leader was ousted at the local elections.
Cllr Shah’s result was a major blow for the ruling Labour party on an otherwise positive night, but intense questions are now sure to follow as the loss of Cllr Shah’s seat, particularly to a Conservative, won’t have gone down well at all.
As for Cllr Shah herself, she put some of the blame for her loss down to a deeply troubling and ‘dehumanising’ smear campaign.
She said: “I fought a really positive campaign, and positivity is what I wanted to bring to politics in Oldham.
“Local people were disengaged with politics, and so people like me should act in a really professional way.
“I have to say, though, that the campaign that was run against me was a personal one.
“There was definitely racism, misogyny - it was a personal campaign against me.
“I’ve seen a new low from the Conservatives in Oldham – they really jumped into that gutter.
“The one thing that I can do after this, is go home and go to sleep knowing that I’ve always wanted to do my absolute best for the people of Oldham.
“Myself and every single member of my group has worked with integrity and worked really hard, but at the end of the day, the people of South Chadderton have spoken and I respect that.
“I think there will be lots of people out there who may be disappointed for me, but I don’t want them to be because this is politics and this is what happens.”
Cllr Shah was confirmed as leader of the council last May.
She had been a prominent front bench councillor who led on the council’s Covid-19 response in the previous year as well as being joint deputy leader with Cllr Abdul Jabbar.
Cllr Shah was a key ally of Sean Fielding, the borough's former leader, who lost his Failsworth seat in last year's local council elections to the Failsworth Independent Party.
She was first elected as a Councillor for St Mary’s Ward in 2012 and selected as Cabinet Member for Performance and Corporate Governance, with responsibility for key campaigns and communications, in that same year.
During her time on the council, she has been outspoken about the misogyny and racism she says she has experienced as an Asian female councillor, as well as issues of deprivation in Oldham’s communities.
Twelve months ago she said: "As a council we need to reconnect with our residents and businesses.
“My commitment is to lead a Council that is really listening to the concerns of local people, and that helps businesses across the borough to flourish.
"We’ll make sure the reopening of our town centres is a time of celebration, and develop networks of businesses in all our town and district centres so that they have the support they need to create great jobs and rebuild Oldham’s reputation as a place of pioneering industry.
"It’s a huge privilege to be Leader of Oldham Council.”
Another former Council Leader, Jean Stretton, comfortably held on to her Hollinwood ward seat.
Meanwhile, there were two seats up for grabs in the Medlock Vale ward following the recent shock resignation of Sahr Abid.
Labour held and gained there, with Sajed Hussain and Umar Nasheen elected following comfortable victories.
Overall, the turnout across Oldham was 32.91-per-cent, which was higher than a number of other Greater Manchester Boroughs.
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