Leader hails gains

PARTY time . . . Labour councillors and supporters celebrate their success with victorious Oldham West and Royton MP Michael Meacher

LOCAL ELECTIONS 2010

“IT’S great to be back,” said a triumphant Labour group leader Jim McMahon who saw gains in five Oldham wards.

And the group leader said they were now in a position to form an administration with the casting vote of Oldham’s next mayor, former Labour leader David Jones.

He said: “We are not interested any formal coalition.

“The Lib-Dems and Conservatives can form a coalition, but people in Oldham voted overwhelmingly that people don’t want a Lib-Dem council.

“If we are blocked by any coalition, we will just have to deal with it.”

Councillor McMahon described the past two years as “calamitous” for the Liberal Democrat group.

He said: “People have reacted against a council they perceive as incompetent.

“The Vance Miller fiasco was just the straw that broke the camel’s back but it was not just an isolated case.

“People have voted with their feet and have moved towards Labour.”

He said voters had reacted to anti-Brown sentiment in the media and had told him even though Brown did not have the gloss of Clegg or Cameron, they trusted him.

He also welcomed the fact Oldham borough had three returning Labour MPs.

View all the results here
Councillor McMahon added: “It’s been six months of campaigning so I’m looking forward to relaxing and not thinking about politics.”