GREEN Party activists suffered abuse and a ‘whispering campaign’ as they attempted to get more representation on Tameside Council.
But while they did not get a second councillor to join Lee Huntbach, they did get some encouraging results.
And next year, they will prioritise wards as all 57 seats are up for election.
Lorraine Whitehead scored the largest number of votes, earning 899 in Ashton Waterloo – less than 400 fewer than the winner, Cllr Vimal Choksi.
And Cllr Huntbach has lifted the lid on what he and others went through, with him ending up in hospital because of the stress.
He told The Correspondent: “There was some horrible, toxic treatment. I can handle it but I think the distress of the campaign sent me over the edge.
“It was stressful for everyone involved. There were a lot of niggles and nastiness, we refuse to engage online and in email. We tried to focus on the campaign.
“But that cost me four days in the run-up to the election as I couldn’t go door knocking as I was in hospital.
“Online is dangerous for everyone, people can write pretty much what they want.”
Cllr Huntbach saw plenty of support for the Greens, especially in Ashton Waterloo, but he believes more should have turned moral backing into votes.
Then they may have achieved what they did in other areas.
He added: “The Green Party have continued to flourish across Greater Manchester and the north west.
“From having no Green councillors five years ago, numbers have increased dramatically from two in 2018 to nine in 2022.
“As well as in Tameside, we now have Greens on Councils in Trafford, Manchester and Stockport – we also came within a handful of votes of a Green councillor in Bury!
“In Tameside we continue to punch above our weight and enjoy a consistent support, edging us closer to our second councillor in Waterloo ward.
“We can only wonder what we could achieve if all the moral support we receive was more practical.
“It is frustrating that the Labour dominance could be challenged by us Greens in several wards, if only we had the human and financial resources available to the big two.
“Of course, the first past the post system favours the status quo which is why we have to work so much harder to achieve any success.”
And work hard is what the Greens certainly will do as 2023 sees all councillors’ seats go to the vote – with specific targets being drawn up.
Cllr Huntbach said: “We’ll definitely prioritise Ashton Waterloo, plus one or two others.
“It may well be we don’t stand in every ward and have two or three candidates standing in others. We’ll have a strategy meeting to decide where we’ll target.”