Bury Council local elections 2024: Labour gain seat from Conservatives

Labour retained all its 11 councillors who were standing and gained a seat from the Conservatives in a surprising result in North Manor.

In that ward, following a recount, John Southworth narrowly beat former sitting councillor Liam James-Dean by 42 votes.

The victory follows Labour success across the country where it has gained 164 seats nationally.

Cabinet members Tamoor Tariq and Alan Quinn were among those who kept hold of their seats.

Despite slightly strengthening their position on the council at the local elections, Labour came under some pressure from hyper-local parties, including the newly formed Bury Independents who argue that voters “have had enough of the two-party system".

But local Labour leaders, including council leader Eamonn O’Brien and Bury South MP Christian Wakeford, admitted that the party’s position on the conflict in Gaza had affected results.

READ MORE: All the results from Bury Council local elections

Candidates and supporters gather at Castle Leisure Centre for the Bury election count (Image: Newsquest)

However, Cllr O’Brien said the Conservative loss in North Manor, the seat formerly held by Bury North MP James Daly, had been a “blow” to the Conservatives.

He said: “Bury is a very representative place for the country as a whole and the close results for our parliamentary results showed that in 2019, and I think the result in the next general election will probably be the same thing.

“We always know there are smaller parties and other issues at stake in local elections that don’t always show themselves at a general election.

But I think the fact that we’re still winning seats and winning them in Conservative heartlands is a really strong sign that the Labour party is in a strong position going into a general election.”

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Cllr Russell Bernstein, leader of the Bury Conservatives, said he expected a “tough afternoon” following the loss of 393 seats across the country so far.

After the count he said he hoped the party could “move forward".

He added:  “I didn’t have that many great expectations due to the national position.

“I’m disappointed we’ve lost a really good councillor in Liam Dean, he was a really hard-working councillor but we’ve got at least a position that now we can build on as we move forward over the next couple of years.”

The new balance on the council is 32 seats for Labour, 10 for the Conservatives, eight for Radcliffe First and one independent.

The turnout was 36.3 per cent, two per cent more than the 2023 turnout.

One seat in each of the borough’s 17 wards was contested, and each winner will serve a four-year term.