2024 Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council election

2024 Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council election

← 2023 2 May 2024 (2024-05-02) 2026 →

20 out of 60 seats to Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council
31 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader Arooj Shah Howard Sykes
Party Labour Independent Liberal Democrats
Last election 32 seats, 46.5% 4 seats, 14.3% 10 seats, 17.7%
Seats before 31 8 10
Seats won 7 8 3
Seats after 27 14 9
Seat change Decrease 4 Increase 6 Decrease 1
Popular vote 17,178 22,698 8,401
Percentage 29.1% 38.4% 14.2%
Swing Decrease 17.4% Increase 24.1% Decrease 3.5%

  Fourth party Fifth party
  Blank Blank
Leader Graham Sheldon
Party Conservative Failsworth Independent Party
Last election 11 seats, 17.6% 3 seats, 2.1%
Seats before 8 3
Seats won 2 0
Seats after 8 2
Seat change Steady Decrease 1
Popular vote 7,731 1,005
Percentage 13.1% 1.7%
Swing Decrease 4.5% Decrease 0.4%

Winner of each seat at the 2024 Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council election

Leader before election

Arooj Shah
Labour

Leader after election

Arooj Shah
Labour
No overall control

The 2024 Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on Thursday 2 May 2024, alongside other local elections in the United Kingdom. One third of the 60 members of Oldham Council in Greater Manchester were elected. The election resulted in Labour losing overall control of the council, with a net loss of 4 seats. Despite this, Labour maintains the largest share of seats, with 27 of the 60 councillors, and managed to form a minority administration after the election.

The local Labour Party leader, Arooj Shah, denied that the conflict in Gaza was a major reason for Labour's loss, saying that "we've asked for an immediate ceasefire right from the start".[1] Despite Shah's claim, The Guardian reported that Labour's stance on the conflict could sway many Muslim voters.[2] This could explain Labour's poor performance in Oldham, where a quarter of the population identify as Muslim,[3] compared to just 6.5% nationally.[4]

Following the election, the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and some of the other councillors attempted to remove the Labour leader and administration from office. They failed to do so by one vote, after two independents voted with Labour and three others abstained. Labour therefore continued to run the council, but as a minority administration.[5]

  1. ^ "Labour loses control of Oldham Council but holds 6 others". BBC News.
  2. ^ "'Trust is lost': Muslim voters unhappy with Labour's stance on Gaza war". The Guardian.
  3. ^ "How life has changed in Oldham: Census 2021". ONS.
  4. ^ "Religion by age and sex, England and Wales: Census 2021". ONS.
  5. ^ Hall, Charlotte (22 May 2024). "Labour narrowly retain control of Oldham Council". BBC News. Retrieved 31 May 2024.