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   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 4 6 1 Popular vote 17,178 22,698 8,401 Percentage 29.1% 38.4% 14.2% Swing 17.4% 24.1% 3.5%   Fourth party Fifth party   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 1 Popular vote 7,731 1,005 Percentage 13.1% 1.7% Swing 4.5% 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]