Full candidates list for 2026 election

Residents will head to the polls on Thursday, May 7, to vote in new representatives for their areas across Oldham. A third of council positions are up for grabs in this election, with voters selecting one for each of the borough’s 20 wards. 

This year’s elections are set to be a tough fight, with a record-breaking 127 candidates jostling for votes. In three wards – Alexandra, Crompton and Waterhead – as many as seven councillor hopefuls are standing, while most other wards have five or six. 

Currently, the town is run by a Labour administration with 27 councillors out of 60. At the last local elections, Labour lost its overall majority of 31, meaning it had to team up with a small group of independents to survive two no confidence votes against its leader, councillor Arooj Shah. 

The remainder of the council is made up of two main opposition groups: the Liberal Democrats and the Oldham Group Party, who each have nine members, as well as six Conservatives, three Reform UK members, and a total of six independents, including local groups such as the Failsworth Independent Party and the Royton Independents. 

In the upcoming vote, Reform and The Green Party are both fielding candidates in every ward for the first time. Labour are fighting for seats in every ward except Royton North, while the Lib Dems are everywhere except Crompton. 

There are also 13 Tory candidates, eight Oldham Group Party (including one backed by George Galloway’s Worker’s Party), and 13 independents. Further smaller groups include Independent Northern Heart, the National Housing Party, and the Failsworth Independent Party. 

The deadline to apply for a postal vote in this year’s local elections is 5pm on Tuesday, April 21. Residents have until midnight on Monday, April 20 to make sure they are on the electoral register and therefore entitled to vote.

Alexandra

 

Susan Brown (REFORM) 

Andrea Chaverra Valencia (GREEN) 

Martin Alexander Dinoff (LIB DEM) 

Carol Hardie (IND) 

Shabir Hussain (OLDHAM GROUP PARTY) 

Shahid Mushtaq (LAB) 

Anne Taylor (INDEPENDENT NORTHERN HEART)

 

Chadderton Central 

 

Katie Helen Gloster (LIB DEM) 

Suleman Hussain (GREEN) 

Nazrul Islam (LAB) 

Iryna Kantorova (CON) 

Alexander David William Lomas (REFORM) 

Mohammed Razon (IND) 

 

Chadderton North 

 

Jon Ford (REFORM) 

Darren Lyon (CON) 

Colin McLaren (LAB) 

Prem Raghvani (LIB DEM) 

Paul Alexander Singleton (GREEN) 

 

Chadderton South 

 

Stephanie Anne Beverley (GREEN) 

Stephen Davenport (CON) 

Muhammad Irfan (OLDHAM GROUP PARTY) 

Rob Jackson (REFORM) 

Kyle Phythian (LAB & CO-OP)

Brian Witt (LIB DEM) 

 

Coldhurst 

 

Mohammed Mohib Abu Taleb (IND) 

Mohammed Ali (IND) 

Abdul Malik (LAB) 

Tayba Nazir (GREEN) 

Keith Pendlebury (LIB DEM) 

Elaine Whittingham (REFORM) 

 

Crompton 

 

Latif Choudhary (LAB) 

Shaun Michael Duffy (IND) 

Alicia Dunne (IND) 

Hazel Gloster (IND) 

Peter Hanlon (REFORM) 

Darren Lord (CON) 

Chris Mills (GREEN) 

 

Failsworth East 

 

Barbara Ann Beeley (LIB DEM) 

Andrew Barry Brooks (REFORM) 

Laurraine DeMelchor (GREEN) 

Jane Dronsfield (CON) 

Chris Goodwin (LAB & CO-OP) 

Neil Hindle (FAILSWORTH INDEPENDENT PARTY) 

 

Failsworth West 

 

Bernard Akin (CON) 

Roger Blackmore (LIB DEM) 

Peter Davis (LAB & CO-OP) 

Andrew Kevin Jones (GREEN) 

Natalie Parren (FAILSWORTH INDEPENDENT PARTY) 

Mark Christopher Ruthven (REFORM) 

 

Hollinwood 

 

Saniya Abid (LAB) 

Elizabeth Adamson (LIB DEM) 

Robert Barnes (REFORM) 

Callum Holt (GREEN) 

John Lawrence (NATIONAL HOUSING PARTY OLDHAM PEOPLE FIRST) 

Abdul Wahid (OLDHAM GROUP PARTY) 

 

Medlock Vale

 

Shona Farnworth (LIB DEM) 

Victor Flowers (REFORM) 

Cameron Lee Gates (GREEN) 

Junaid Hussain (LAB & CO-OP) 

Sharoon Zaman (OLDHAM GROUP PARTY) 

 

Royton North 

 

Christine Adams (CON) 

Lewis Farnworth (LIB DEM) 

Clint Phythian (LAB) 

Paul Robinson (REFORM) 

Emily Walker (GREEN) 

 

Royton South 

 

Kathryn Jane England (LEB) 

William Hingston (CON) 

Miranda Meadowcroft (GREEN) 

Tony Pinder (REFORM) 

Anthony Prince (IND) 

Lynne Christine Thompson (LIB DEM)

 

Saddleworth North 

 

Luke Bywater (CON) 

Chris Fielding (GREEN) 

Samuel Jacob Hollis (LAB & CO-OP) 

Michael Robert Thomas Powell (LIB DEM) 

Ioan Williams (REFORM) 

 

Saddleworth South 

 

George Simon Atkinson (GREEN) 

Helen Louise Bishop (LIB DEM )

Archie Ross Duncan (LAB) 

David Hartington (CON) 

Christopher John McManus (REFORM) 

 

Saddleworth West & Lees 

 

Joe Bardsley (GREEN) 

Dave Barter (LAB) 

Lisa Hartington (CON) 

Peter Klonowski (REFORM) 

Alicia Marland (LIB DEM) 

 

Shaw 

 

Hamid Ali (LAB) 

Steve Eyre (REFORM) 

Sarah Howarth (IND) 

Ben Jack Ingham (GREEN) 

Adi Kohli (CON) 

Lee Navesey (IND) 

Tom Penketh (LIB DEM) 

 

St James’ 

 

Angela Cosgrove (LAB) 

Roger Hindle (LIB DEM) 

Maqsood Hussain (OLDHAM GROUP PARTY) 

Amir Jhandad (GREEN) 

Tom Noble (CON) 

Gary Tarbuck (REFORM) 

 

St Mary’s 

 

Sonny Shah Arstan (OLDHAM GROUP PARTY) 

Ivan Burnley-Davies (REFORM) 

Joe Gloster (LIB DEM) 

Aftab Hussain (LAB) 

Lina Maria Valencia (GREEN) 

 

Waterhead 

 

Mir Ajawat (OLDHAM GROUP PARTY) 

Stuart Allsop (IND) 

Alison Caroline Bishop (LIB DEM) 

Majid Khan (IND) 

Ali Aqeel Salamat (LAB) 

Andrew Peter Sinclair (GREEN) 

Paul Taylor (REFORM) 

 

Werneth 

Mohammed Imran Ali (IND) 

Fida Hussain (LAB & CO-OP) 

Stuart Illingwoth (REFORM) 

Rangzib Nazir (WORKERS PARTY/OLDHAM GROUP PARTY) 

Rachel Pendlebury (LIB DEM) 

Mycul Trelore (GREEN)