2024 Greater Manchester local election results – in graphs

Greater Manchester votes

If we just add up all the votes from across all ten GM boroughs, here’s how the votes are distributed:

But if we look at the number of seats you’d expect based on the proportional vote, it doesn’t match the actual number of seats gained by the parties. Labour won about 50% more seats than we’d expect from the distribution of votes, and they were the only party to benefit disproportionately from our first-past-the-post system. The Conservatives lost out, with 54% fewer seats than expected; as did the Greens with a 77% hit to the number of seats their vote share represented. All of the smaller parties, including the Workers Party, had their vote diluted by the larger parties – as we might expect – but all of these parties stood in just one or two, sometimes a handful, of wards. Some only stood in one council area.

The two parties whose vote share was accurately reflected in the seat allocations were the Liberal Democrats and independent candidates. They achieved roughly the right number of seats based on the maths. But the large number of successful independent candidates is both unusual and part of a trend. You’d expect independents to be at a disadvantage against the finances, media coverage and influence of the larger political parties – but organised local campaigns have led to success for independents pressing their council on borough-specific issues. Many of these candidates sought and gained re-election following the recent increase in the number of independent councillors across the whole nation.

Party	% vote share	Expected (%) seats	Actual seats
Labour	44.26%	96	147
Conservative	17.11%	37	17
Lib Dems	11.32%	25	21
Green	10.29%	22	5
Reform UK	2.06%	4	0
UKIP	0.01%	0	0
Workers Party	2.49%	5	3
Communist Future	0.03%	0	0
Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition	0.05%	0	0
Women’s Equality Party	0.07%	0	0
Party of Women	0.02%	0	0
English Democrats	0.05%	0	0
Northern Heart	0.03%	0	0
National Housing Party	0.03%	0	0
Independent	12.17%	27	25

Bolton

Bolton remains in no overall control, with a Labour leader. Independents and the Green Party have further eroded the Labour minority administration.

Bury

Bury Council remains under Labour control, having increased their majority by one seat.

Manchester

No surprises that Manchester City Council remains a Labour council, but smaller parties retain their opposition numbers. The election of a Workers Party candidate, ousting the deputy leader, was notable, and highlights that international issues do matter on the local level.

Oldham

Oldham Council fell to no overall control from being a Labour-held council prior to the election, due to the loss of Labour seats to independent candidates. However, these independents’ politics may not all align with each other, so expect plenty of discord in council meetings.

Rochdale

Labour lost two seats to the Workers Party, but still hold the most seats. It’s perhaps surprising that the Workers Party didn’t do better here – they stood candidates in 13 of 20 wards.

Salford

Like Manchester, Salford is solidly Labour-controlled. They gained one seat from the Conservatives this election.

Stockport

The Liberal Democrats increased their majority in Stockport, at the expense of Labour. Green and Independent candidates retained their seats.

Tameside

Tameside Council remained under Labour control, but with two seats lost to independent candidates. No change for the Tories on 7 seats out of 57.

Trafford

The decline of Trafford’s Conservatives continued with two more seats falling to theLabour majority. The Lib Dems and Greens maintained their numbers.

Wigan

Not much change here. Labour maintained their sizeable hold of the council with no change in their seats, but the Conservatives are now down to just one councillor.

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Featured image: Kacy Preen