Less than three months ago, Wiganers gave an overwhelming thumbs down to Labour. Voters gave the party a famous ‘kicking’, with Reform UK winning 24 out of 25 available seats.
The borough council has been dominated by Labour since it was formed in the 1970s. Yet voters shunned the ruling party in their droves on May 7 – with the party failing to win in any ward.
Labour retained control of the local authority because it was mathematically impossible for it to lose grip of power back in May, with only one-third of seats up for grabs. The result left the party fearful over what could happen when the next third of seats are voted on in May 2027.
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Jo Platt, Labour MP for Leigh and Atherton, told the Manchester Evening News at the time: “They wanted to give us a kicking and they have. This is about the voters. This is about listening and that’s what we’ve got to take stock of locally and nationally. We have got to listen to what they have said and it starts tomorrow.”
But two hugely significant by-elections in the months that followed the local elections have dramatically shifted the picture. First, Andy Burnham put his popularity to the test in Makerfield.
He secured 54 per cent of the vote – winning more than 9,000 more votes than runner-up Rob Kenyon, of Reform UK. The second litmus test came in the mayoral election this week.
Across Greater Manchester, Bev Craig won 47 per cent of the vote for Labour in the first round, with Reform’s Sian Astley picking up 34 per cent. With second preferences counted for the top two, Ms Craig swept to victory with 66 per cent of the vote.
In Wigan, the scale of her victory was particularly impressive. In the first round, Ms Craig finished top in the borough with 26,200 votes, while Ms Astley secured 16,830 votes.
After second preferences were added, Ms Craig had a total of 29,219, while Ms Astley had 21,751. In the Wigan showdown for the top two, Ms Craig secured 57.3 per cent of the vote, to Ms Astley’s 42.7 per cent.
With a new Prime Minister in Mr Burnham and a new mayor in Ms Craig, attention will turn to the local elections again next May. It will be fascinating to see if Labour can keep up the winning momentum in a town some people believed it had lost for good only a few months ago.
As for the other mayoral candidates knocked out in the first round, Marlon West of Restore Britain came third with 5,661 votes. Conservative candidate Phil Eckersley was fourth with 3,233, while Green Party candidate Geraldine Coggins had 2,737 votes. Liberal Democrat Richard Kilpatrick received 739 votes, and independent Marcus Farmer received 377 votes.
