Oldham local elections 2024 - Labour loses control of council following a big night for independents

Following a dramatic night and early morning at the Oldham local election count at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Labour has lost its majority at Oldham council.

The party, which has been in power since 2011, no longer controls the council - though it's looking likely that it is set to remain in charge as the largest party.

It follows three consecutive years in which the leader of Oldham council was ousted.

The current council leader Arooj Shah was not up for re-election this year, but could now face a leadership challenge after presiding over her party losing control of the town hall.

Labour went into this year's local election with a majority of just one, but have lost six seats while gaining only two.

Independent candidates - to rousing cheers inside the QE Hall - beat Labour in several wards where the war in Gaza - and the party's stance on the conflict - is reported to have been a potentially decisive factor.

Labour will now need to work with smaller political groups and independents if it wants to stay in power.

The party will need a majority to elect a leader and pass the budget.

If the opposition parties join forces to form a majority, they could potentially oust Labour.

Labour lost seats to independents in Werneth, St Mary's, Waterhead, Alexandra and Royton South, while the Failsworth Independents gained from Labour in Failsworth West.

Labour gained Failsworth East and Hollinwood, while the Lib Dems lost Shaw to an independent.

Among the Independent candidates elected were:

Werneth - Ali Amjad (Held)

St Mary's - Aisha Kouser (Gain from Labour)

Coldhurst - Montaz Ali Azad (Gain from Labour)

Royton South - Jade Hughes (Gain from Labour)

Alexandra - Zaheer Ali (Gain from Labour)

Shaw - Lisa Navesey (Gain from Liberal Democrats)

Waterhead - Stuart Allsopp (Gain from Labour)

Failsworth West - Majid Khan (Gain from Labour)

The overall turnout for local elections was 35.58 per cent of residents casting their ballots this year - a rise from the 31.5 per cent turnout last year.

All of last night's local election results can be found here

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