Saddleworth learns who will be Mayor of Greater Manchester

PEOPLE in Saddleworth have cast their vote – now to find out who will be the next Mayor of Greater Manchester.

Andy Burnham’s departure for another important job – that of being Prime Minister – meant a poll to find his replacement was held on Thursday, May 30.

And votes from across all 10 boroughs are being counted at Manchester’s Co-Op Live venue.

Our reporter Leslie Kerwin is at the cene, soaking up all the sights and sounds and getting the reaction.

Libera Democrat candidate Richard Kilpatrick has arrived at the count,

First candidat arrives at count

THE LIBERAL Democrats’ Richard Kilpatrick entered the Co-op Live as the region awaits for the official vote count to start.

Speaking exclusively to Saddleworth Independent, he said the biggest by-election in British history, ‘is going to be an interesting one.’

He said: “We know that we’re going to be squeezed, but we’re hopeful to make sure that we get the vest results that we possibly can. I think voters are still to be counted across the city region.

“We’ve run a very good campaign. We’ve talked about the issues that are really important to the people of Greater Manchester, and we know that we’ve received really positive feedback from everywhere we’ve campaigned across the ten boroughs.

“We just hope that we’ve had the best impact we possibly can, and if we haven’t, we’ll continue to campaign on those priorities that people told us about.”

When asked if there were any particular regions he thought would do well for his party, he was keen to emphasise his view was “just speculation”.

“Obviously there’s the areas where have strong campaigns and candidates and campaigners that work hard all year round, the Liberal Democrats get elected every single time. In those areas where we have those local champions, we expect to do better.

“I think it’s all about trying to remind people that people are human. The Liberal Democrats are a party that many people may not have considered, and it’s trying to be like, ‘Okay, these people are normal.’

“We try to focus on the issues that’s that matter to people, and if I’ve left a good impression on everywhere I’ve been, then that’s a win for me.”

Labour are confident about Councillor Bev Craig’s chances of winning.

Labour confident

A LABOUR source told Saddleworth Independent that they have got, ‘the angry Labour block on their side,’ after Andy Burnham took over as Prime Minister.

They said they think Labour has done “really well” on the campaign trail, as a More in Common opinion poll earlier this week predicted a 39 per cent first round vote share for Bev Craig.

A separate source said they are hopeful that Labour will perform well among voters in central Manchester, Stockport, and Trafford in the first round – but that this was just speculation.

A Green Party source told how they believe they will perform strongly in some traditional Labour blocks in central Manchester, but that they think the party will have a stronger fighting chance ‘by next year.’

Predictions from research group More in Common put the Green Party’s Geraldine Coggins in third place, with an approximate 14 per cent vote share in the first round.

VOTER TURNOUT

The official count for the next Greater Manchester mayor is officially underway – so when will we hear of the results?

The overall turnout across Greater Manchester was 25.14% – 406,516 votes precisely.

That was out of 2,142,779 eligible voters.

The figures were roughly the same in Tameside, with a 25.3% turnout, according to our sources.

The vote count will be split into two rounds. If a candidate gains more than 50% of the vote share in the first round, the second will not go ahead.

This time, only the top two candidates will be announced for the first round – and the results of the other parties will not be formally announced at the venue.

A full list of results will be officially revealed at the very end of the count, which staff say could happen as late as “after six o’clock”.

In the meantime, only the parties themselves will be given the results as they happen.