10:00pm- POLLS CLOSED in the Tameside local elections. Tonight, 19 of the borough’s 57 council seats are up for grabs, with 93 candidates contesting seats across the borough.
Labour currently controls the council with 38 seats and has held a majority in Tameside since 1979, but with 14 Labour seats being defended tonight, opposition will be hoping to make gains.
Reform UK are fielding candidates in every ward following last year’s Longdendale by-election victory, while Conservatives, Greens, Lib Dems, independents and others are also battling for seats across the borough.
Beyond the national political picture, many voters say local issues remain key tonight, from potholes and bin collections to how councillors represent their communities.
Stay with us throughout the night for results, reaction and analysis as the count gets underway.
10:13pm – Verification is underway at Dukinfield Town Hall. This is the first stage after polls close, where officials check that the number of ballot papers in each ballot box matches the number that should have been issued.
It happens before the actual count of votes
10:24pm: One source tells The Correspondent: “From what I’m seeing, Labour’s getting battered.”
10:39pm: Ballot boxes continue to arrive at Dukinfield Town Hall. The venue is split into areas. Stalybridge and Hyde are in rooms upstairs with the rest of the borough being in the main hall. As counting begins and more data arrives, results will be posted on the wall in the corridor.
10:47 – The Stalybridge and Hyde rooms upstairs at Dukinfield Town Hall
10:55pm: Atta Ul-Rasool (Labour candidate for St Peter’s ward) has told how people on different political sides came together to help a member of Tameside Council staff who suffered a medical episode at Ashton’s Holy Trinity as votes were cast in St Peter’s ward
11:03pm: Hannah Yates, the Green Party candidate for Hyde Newton, has told The Correspondent that party membership has “exploded” since Hannah Spencer was elected as MP for Denton and Gorton in February.
Hannah added that it is too early to forecast how many councillors will be elected for the party, describing these elections as “some of the most unpredictable that we’ve ever seen”.
11:33pm – Allan Hopwood, Tameside’s only Reform councillor currently, says he hopes to have “at least 15” members of his group elected by the end of the night.
The Longdendale councillor has told The Correspondent that people are “a bit sick” of the council being “mismanaged for a long time” and people locally are “paying the price” for the net zero agenda “being pushed massively by the Labour Party”.
11:40pm – Rachel Taylor, the Conservative Party candidate for Ashton Hurst, feels she’s had a “strong” campaign and that it’s been “really positive” on the doorsteps today.
She added that potholes, the state of Ashton town centre and frustration about the closure of the town’s swimming baths have been among the key issues raised with her by residents.
00:28 – John Taylor, Tameside’s longest serving councillor, describes this election campaign as ‘the worst for hate I’ve known for 50 years.’
00:30 – Denton’s MP Hannah Spencer has arrived to back the Green Party’s candidates in Tameside’s local elections.
00:33 – Cllr Ann Holland puts the blame for the anti-Labour feeling firmly at the feet of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Ashton Hurst: 3761 (1131 postal)
01:10 – The Monster Raving Loony Party are here and enjoying themselves at the count.
The stakes are certainly high at these elections!