Decision day

This year’s Oldham local elections will see controversial party UKIP field 18 candidates for the 21 council seats available.

Their party’s deputy leader, Paul Nuttall, described Oldham as “UKIP’s birthplace” when visiting the borough earlier this month. The party’s offensive is led by former Labour councillor Joe Fitzpatrick.

A third of the council seats are up for grabs across 20 wards, with two other seats available in St James ward.

The current make up of the 60-seat council is Labour 43, Lib-Dems 14 and the Tories on two, with one seat vacant previously held by Labour, giving a Labour majority of 28.

Council leader Jim McMahon’s Labour has overall control and would still have a single-seat majority if all 14 its contested seats were lost.

Oldham’s youngest election candidate this year is Oldham Sixth Form student Sam Pennington (18).

He is standing in the Failsworth West ward for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition.

A candidate surrounded by controversy is Jackie Garnett, standing as an independent in Royton South. She was due to represent UKIP but was barred from the party after controversial comments.

The Green Party is fielding eight candidates and there are several independents. The polls are open on Thursday, between 7am to 10pm.