Tories will aim to make gains as town goes to the polls
ROCHDALE goes to the polls next week. A third of the council’s 60 seats are up for grabs in Thursday’s local elections.
But because Labour hold such a commanding grip on the town hall, it’s impossible for the party to lose overall control.
Even if the Conservatives win all 17 Labour seats being contested and hold the three they are defending, it would still leave the Tories four short of a majority.
While that is unlikely the Conservatives will have high hopes of making inroads, following a difficult few weeks for both Labour and the Lib Dems.
Earlier this month former Labour leader Richard Farnell and ex-Lib Dem council chief Paul Rowen were both heavily criticised by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse for their handling of historic sexual abuse at the notorious Knowl View school.
Current Labour leader Allen Brett, who took over after Coun Farnell’s resignation last December, could also face a standards investigation after he was secretly recorded apparently threatening not to spend money on roads and pavements in wards in which Labour aren’t ‘successful’ at the local elections.
In a statement issued after an audio file was made public, Coun Brett said he was disappointed that his ‘off-the-cuff remarks’ at a private meeting were recorded and leaked and added his comments were ‘not meant to be threatening or taken seriously’.
Labour currently hold 47 seats, while the Conservatives hold 10, with the Liberal Democrats on two and one held by an independent.
The polls open at 7am on Thursday and voting closes at 10pm.