Green Party elected in Altrincham as Conservatives lose control of Trafford Council

The Conservatives have lost control of Trafford Council after 15 years in one of the biggest shocks of the local elections.

Trafford had been heavily targeted by Labour as a potential target and the upset duly unravelled at the town hall this morning, with Labour becoming the largest party with 30 seats to the Conservatives’ 29.

And one of the biggest upsets of the night came in Altrincham, where the Green Party gained the two seats available from the Conservatives.

See the Altrincham results announced:

Elsewhere, the Tories held Bowdon, Hale Barns, Hale Central and Timperley, and also gained Village from the Liberal Democrats, while Labour held on to Broadheath.

Davyhulme East, Davyhulme West, Flixton and Brooklands, the latter visited by the Prime Minister herself on Monday – also transferred from blue to red.

Andrew Western, leader of the Trafford Labour party, told the MEN that he was “absolutely ecstatic” with a result that was “far beyond our expectations”.

He said: “We hoped to take the council into no overall control, but to have become the largest party at the same time is a fantastic bonus for us.

“I think people are fed up, after 14 years of a Tory council that does not listen to residents and eight years of austerity that’s impacted so badly on our services.

“This council has run out of ideas. It’s privatised environmental services and the result has been a disaster.”

Former leader Coun Anstee said the result was “disappointing” but that the party would losing four wards to Labour was ‘difficult to take’ but vowed that his party would come back fighting.

He said: “Elections in Trafford are always closely fought – that’s been the case for many years. We were clearly an obvious target for the Labour party.

“It’s disappointing but we need to reflect and learn and try to come back fighting next year.

Sean Anstee speaking after the result:

“We need to reflect on the result we’ve had. It was positive for us to win Village and retain Timperley and Ashton on Mersey, but some seats we have lost are quite significant.”

One of Altrincham’s new Green councillors, Dan Jerrome, said the party had achieved its result in the ward through “sheer hard work”.

“It’s a really great night for us. We worked really hard to get here and we are really thankful to residents for placing trust in us.

“Some of the bigger issues that stood out are some of the bigger developments that are going on in Altrincham, the affordable housing element and we’ve held the council to account on that.

“We’re just amazed. It’s an historic night for the Green party, our first ever councillors in Trafford.”

THE FULL RESULTS FROM ALTRINCHAM WARDS

ALTRINCHAM

Daniel Jerrome (GREEN) 1,944
Geraldine Coggins (GREEN) 1,621
Constantine Biller (CON) 1,386
Angela Stone (CON) 1,342
Stephane Savary (LAB) 846
Barry Winstanley (LAB) 655
Julian Newgrosh (LD) 118
David Martin (LD) 93

BOWDON

Karen Barclay (CON) 2,130
Waseem Hassan (LAB) 422
Ludo Tolhurst-Cleaver (LD) 356
Nigel Hennerley (GREEN) 169
Jim Cook (UKIP) 39

BROADHEATH

Amy Whyte (LAB) 2,077
Kate Burke (CON) 1,716
Chris Marriott (LD) 170
Daniel Gresty (GREEN) 160
Mike Bayley-Sanderson (UKIP) 56
Stephen Farndon (IND) 33

HALE BARNS

Dylan Butt (CON) 1,922
Akilah Akinola (LAB) 477
Maggie Boysen (LD) 258
Sandra Taylor (IND) 132
Deborah Leftwich (GREEN) 95

HALE CENTRAL

Alan Mitchell (CON) 1,604
Jill Axford (LAB) 809
Will Frass (LD) 364
Stephen Leicester (GREEN) 166
Wayne Harrison (LIBERAL) 49

TIMPERLEY

Nathan Evans (CON) 1,694
William Jones (LD) 1,329
Julia Garlick (LAB) 718
Neil Taylor (LIBERAL) 342
Jadwiga Leigh (GREEN) 113

VILLAGE

Thomas Carey (CON) 1,331
Tony Fishwick (LD) 1,003
Tony O’Brien (LAB) 742
Angela O’Neill (UKIP) 106
Matthew Westbrook (GREEN) 78

Main pic: Nicola Byrne