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joemcfadden
5th May 2023

Local elections 2023: Fallowfield still has lowest turnout in Manchester

Fallowfield still has the lowest voter turnout in Manchester whilst the Greens and Lib Dems made gains – here’s a full breakdown of Manchester’s Local elections 2023
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Local elections 2023: Fallowfield still has lowest turnout in Manchester
A Polling Station at dusk in Withington WardPhoto: Joe McFadden @ The Mancunion

Greater Manchester went to the polls yesterday (May 4) to vote in the 2023 Local elections.

32 seats on Manchester City Council were up for election in the following wards:

Ancoats and Beswick; Ardwick; Baguley; Brooklands; Burnage; Charlestown; Cheetham; Chorlton; Chorlton Park; Clayton and Openshaw; Crumpsall; Deansgate; Didsbury East; Didsbury West; Fallowfield; Gorton and Abbey Hey; Harpurhey; Higher Blackley; Hulme; Levenshulme; Longsight; Miles Platting and Newton Heath; Moss Side; Moston; Northenden; Old Moat; Piccadilly; Rusholme; Sharston; Whalley Range; Withington; and Woodhouse Park.

 

Analysis:

Overall, turnout varied across the city with Chorlton seeing the highest number of 42.03% whilst Fallowfield still had the lowest as only 18.35% of eligible voters cast their ballots.

Labour still holds a super-majority of seats, gaining 29 out of the 32 up for election, although the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party made some small gains.

Ancoats and Beswick turned Lib Dem as Labour incumbent Majid Dar was defeated by Chris Northwood who will now become Manchester’s first openly transgender councillor.

Didsbury West was also flipped orange as Lib Dem Richard Kilpatrick won the seat.

The Green Party also flipped Woodhouse Park as Anastasia Wiest won the seat after Labour incumbent Edward Newman did not seek re-election.

This means Manchester has its first all-Green ward, bringing their total number of councillors to four.

The Conservative Party also failed to return any candidates to the council, meaning the last time a Tory councillor sat on Manchester City Council was 2010.

 

Full results:

 

Ancoats and Beswick: Lib Dem gain

The Liberal Democrats have gained Ancoats and Beswick from Labour.

Liberal Democrat Chris Northwood beat Labour incumbent Majid Dar to become Manchester’s first openly trans councillor.

Northwood was elected with 1,543 votes out of on a turnout of 25.8%

 

Ardwick: Labour hold

Amna Saad Omar Abdullatif was re-elected as a Labour councillor for Ardwick whilst Abdigafar Muse was elected to Bernard Priest’s seat as the incumbent councillor stepped down after serving on the council since 1998.

Ardwick’s turnout was 23% with Abdullatif receiving 2,033 votes whilst Muse got 1,705.

 

Baguley: Labour hold

Labour and Co-Operative candidate Phil Brickell was elected as Baguely’s councillor after incumbentLuke Raikes, who had held the seat since 2012, stood down.

Brickell was elected with 1,509 votes on a turnout of 19.43%.

 

Brooklands: Labour hold

Incumbent Glynn Evans received 1,777 votes to be re-elected as Brooklands’ councillor.

The Labour ward’s turnout was 24.45% with 10,990 voters eligible.

 

Burnage: Labour hold

Azra Ali has been re-elected as Labour’s councillor for Burnage, receiving 2,376 votes.

Turnout was 27.68% with the total number of eligible voters being 12,982.

 

Charlestown: Labour hold

Labour’s Basil Curley has been re-elected as Charestown’s councillor.

The incumbent received 1,769 votes after a turnout of 20.5%.

Cheetham: Labour hold

Incumbent Shazia Butt has been re-elected as Labour’s councillor for Cheetham.

Butt was elected in a 2021 by-election and has been returned to the council with 2,605 votes on a turnout of 24.51%.

 

Chorlton: Labour hold

Matthew Benham received 2,901 votes to be re-elected as Labour’s councillor for Chorlton.

The ward also had the highest turnout in Manchester as 42.03% of all 10, 296 eligible voters cast their ballots.

Chorlton Park: Labour hold

The Labour Party’s Dave Rawson has been re-elected with 3,065 votes – the highest of any single councillor in Manchester.

Turnout in Chorlton Park was 35.62%, one of the highest in the city, and has 12,845 eligible voters.

 

Clayton and Openshaw: Labour hold

Sean McHale has been re-elected as Labour’s councillor for Clayton and Openshaw.

He received 2,008 votes on a turnout of 20.38%.

 

Crumpsall: Labour hold

Fiaz Riasat was re-elected as Labour’s councillor for Crumpsall with 2,220 votes.

Turnout in the ward was 25.57% with 11,665 voters eligible.

 

Deansgate: Labour hold

Labour and Co-Operative Party candidate Anthony McCaul was elected as Deansgate’s councillor after Labour incumbent William Jeavons stood down.

McCaul received 1,050 votes on a turnout of 21.16%.

 

Didsbury East: Labour and Co-Operative hold

James Wilson was re-elected as the Labour and Co-Operative Party councillor for Didsbury East.

Turnout was high with 42.36% of eligible voters casting a ballot in the election.

Didsbury West: Lib Dem gain

Richard Kilpatrick flipped Didsbury West, gaining the ward from Labour with 2,260 votes.

The race was one of the tightest in Manchester as Labour’s Leslie Bell received 2,047 votes after a turnout of 42.9% – the highest in the city.

 

Fallowfield: Labour hold

Labour incumbent Jade Doswell has been re-elected as Fallowfield’s councillor, receiving 1,290 votes.

The student suburb, which had the lowest turnout in Manchester last year with 15.22%, increased its amount to 18.35% despite having one of the lowest numbers of eligible voters in Manchester as only 9,596 citizens are registered voters.

 

Gorton and Abbey Hey: Labour hold

Afia Kamal received 1,906 votes to be re-elected as Gorton and Abbey’s councillor.

The Labour ward saw a turnout of 22.08%.

 

Harpurhey: Labour hold

Harpurhey re-elected Pat Harney as their councillor.

Standing for Labour, Harney received 1,715 votes in total after a turnout of 18.77%.

 

Higher Blackley: Labour hold

Paula Sadler received 1,498 votes to be re-elected as Higher Blackley’s councillor.

The Labour ward had a turnout of 20.37%.

 

Hulme: Labour and Co-Operative hold

Annette Wright was re-elected as Hulme’s councillor, receiving 1,886 votes as a Labour and Co-Operative Party candidate.

Turnout was 21.96% with 12,115 voters eligible.

 

Levenshulme: Labour hold

Bashat Sheikh was re-elected as Labour’s councillor for Levenshulme after receiving 2,425 votes.

Levenshulme had an above-average turnout with 30.88% of 13,284 eligible electors casting their ballots.

 

Longsight: Labour hold

Labour’s Suzanne Richards was re-elected in Longsight, securing 2,663 votes.

Turnout in the ward was 24.22% with 13,221 votes possible.

 

Miles Platting and Newton Heath: Labour hold

Miles Platting and Newton Heath have re-elected John Flanagan as their councillor.

Labour incumbent Flanagan received 1,872 votes although turnout was on the lower end of the spectrum as only 19.39% of eligible electors cast their ballots.

 

Moss Side: Labour hold

Labour incumbent Mahadi Sharif Mahamed has been re-elected as Moss Side’s councillor.

Turnout was 23.97% with Mahamed receiving 1,300 votes from a total of 13,926.

 

Moston: Labour hold

Yasmine Dar has been re-elected as Labour’s councillor for Moston after turnout was 22.7%.

Dar received 1,859 votes in total however Moston also saw the Conservative’s best showing all night as 484 votes were cast for Tory candidate Popoola Alabi.

 

Northenden: Labour hold

Richard Fletcher has been elected as the Labour Party’s new councillor for Northenden after incumbent Sarah Russell declined to stand for re-election.

Turnout was 23.01%, with Fletcher receiving 1,591 votes out of a total 10,932 votes possible.

Northenden was the only Manchester ward in which a candidate from the Monster Loony Raving Party stood although “Sir Oink A-Lot” only received 57 votes.

 

Old Moat: Labour hold

Garry Bridges received 2,096 votes to be re-elected as Old Moat’s councillor – a ward with 11,017 total votes.

The Labour incumbent was re-elected following a 25.82% turnout as the Green Party’s Laura Bannister received 436 votes.

 

Piccadilly: Labour hold

Samuel Wheeler has been re-elected as Piccadilly’s councillor.

The Labour candidate received 958 votes on a turnout of 22.4% – although Piccadilly is one of Manchester’s smaller wards, with a total electorate of 8,775.

 

Rusholme: Labour hold

Rusholme incumbent Ahmed Ali has been re-elected as a Labour councillor, receiving a total 2,371 votes.

The councillor was re-elected on a turnout of 25.42%, with the closest candidate being the Green Party’s Dennis Pirdzuns’ 249 votes.

 

Sharston: Labour hold

Sharston’s Labour Councillor Tim Whitsun has been re-elected after receiving 1,581 votes.

Turnout was low, with only 19.97% of voters casting a ballot in Sharston’s election.

 

Whalley Range: Labour hold

Angeliki Stogia has been re-elected in Whalley Range as a Labour councillor.

Stogia received 2,379 votes following a turnout of 30.35% – one of the highest in Manchester.

 

Withington: Labour hold

Labour incumbent Becky Chambers has been re-elected as Withington’s councillor, receiving 1,673 votes.

Withington, a key student ward, had a turnout of 29.81% – one of the highest in Manchester.

 

Woodhouse Park: Green gain

Anastasia Wiest has been elected as the Green Party’s councillor for Woodhouse Park.

Wiest gained the seat from Labour after incumbent Edward Newman declined to stand for re-election.

Turnout in Woodhouse Park was 22.41% and Wiest won with 1,252 votes after Labour candidate Dave Marsh only received 1,106 votes.

Joe McFadden

Joe McFadden

Managing Editor (2022/23) | Highly Commended for Outstanding Commitment in the North (SPA Regional Awards 2023) | Highly Commended Best Arts & Culture piece in the UK (SPA National Awards 2023) | Shortlisted for Best Reporter in the UK (SPA National Awards 2021)

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