The suburbs of south Manchester have been part of Labour’s heartlands in recent times – but something seems to have changed.
In the local elections on May 7, the Green Party swept to victory in council seats across the city, in places such as Burnage, Levenshulme, and Rusholme.
It has created what has been described as a new ‘Green wall’ in the places where Labour once dominated, while Reform UK snatched wins in areas of Manchester such as Miles Platting and Newton Heath, and Moston.
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So have voters in these areas turned their back on Labour for good?
The Local Democracy Reporting Service spoke to residents in Burnage and Moston to find out.
Sandwiched between the A34 and A6, Burnage is perhaps best known as being home of Oasis stars Noel and Liam Gallagher.
But on the streets of this traditionally working class community, people said they are looking away from Labour.
“I voted Green this year, I’m 52 and since being 18 I’ve always voted Labour,” said Melissa Tait, speaking on Burnage Lane.
“I’m not going to vote Reform, but I don’t feel Labour are doing anything for voters, and that’s why I’ve gone for Green.
“I’ve never voted for them before, but I think we need a change.”
It’s a feeling that seems to be spreading across Greater Manchester. A sense that proud communities are not improving quickly enough, and a clamour for something different.
The Green Party put themselves forward as a progressive alternative in Manchester, and voters backed them in many areas of the city in the local elections.
The Greens won 18 out of 32 council seats up for grabs on May 7.
Labour is still in control of the town hall, but faces a fight to maintain its grip on power in future years.
There are now 63 Labour councillors in Manchester, down 24 on May 7, the Greens have 21 council seats, up 17; Reform seven, up seven; the Lib Dems four, with no change; and there’s still one independent.
For people like Melissa in Burnage, voting for the Greens was a protest rather than a fundamental change in her political beliefs.
She added: “Maybe it is a bit of a protest vote actually, I’ve never really thought about it.
“My view at the minute on politics, of all the parties, I don’t feel that they are here for the people.
“It seems to be that they’re doing things for their friends, and it’s like, well what are you really doing for us?
“That’s why I thought I’d see if the Green Party can do anything for us.”
One man at the front of voters’ minds in polling booths on May 7 was the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.
Many people around Greater Manchester said they don’t feel inspired by the Prime Minister’s vision for the future of the country.
In the aftermath of Labour’s battering at the local elections, close to 100 Labour MPs have called on Keir Starmer to resign.
It has led to Makerfield MP Josh Simons stepping aside to make a route back to Parliament for Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, if he allowed to stand in the race, and if we wins the by-election.
There is a belief that Andy Burnham being back in Parliament could see him become the country’s next prime minister in the event of a Labour leadership challenge against Keir Starmer.
In Burnage, Melissa said: “To me he [Keir Starmer] is no different from all the other politicians if I’m honest, just with all this stuff coming out about him knowing Mandelson and all that.
“I just think, are they really doing anything for us? I don’t really see what he’s doing.”
Burnage resident Melissa Tait voted for the Green Party in the local elections(Image: Declan Carey / Local Democracy Reporting Service)
Asked whether Andy Burnham could be the answer to Labour’s problems, Melissa added: “I would vote for him. Yes. He’s been mayor for a while, he seems to be doing quite good things for Manchester, he speaks up for Manchester people, I would definitely vote for him.”
Burnage is the seat of Manchester council leader Bev Craig, whose councillor term runs until 2028 before up for re-election
Despite Labour’s losses in Manchester’s local elections on May 7, the city’s Labour group is still the largest in the country.
Councillor Bev Craig said: “People having their say at the ballot box is a precious thing in a democracy, and the results last week across the country were not good for Labour.
“We lost seats in the city, many by very narrow margins but remain the largest Labour group in the country. Representation is hard earned and should never be taken for granted.
“Too many times we heard on the doorstep that people weren’t voting on issues locally but national frustrations, international issues, the pace of change, the cost of living, wrong decisions taken by government, and for some a referendum on the Prime Minister.
“We heard time and time again that people wanted change from the national Labour Party and they need to listen and change, showing ordinary people they are on their side.
“Here in Manchester, Manchester Labour hasn’t lost sight of our values, be that on when we argued against the government on protecting winter fuel, Gaza or standing up for disabled people.
“We will keep putting our values into practice while calling on the Government to show they’ve listened.”
Some residents in the area felt that Burnage had not abandoned Labour.
Resident Julie Walker, 66, described herself as a Labour voter who voted Green on May 7, and said: “I’m not sure the area did entirely turn its back on Labour.”
Julie explained that not all of the community had been convinced by the record of the former Labour councillor Murtaza Iqbal, who lost his seat on May 7 in Burnage to the Green Party.
She added: “Personally, I just thought it was time to let somebody else a chance, I think if one of the other councillors had been up for election, we might have had a different outcome.
“Obviously national issues have also overshadowed local issues, because personally the Labour Party have done an awful lot in this area that is very good in the last five years.”
Asked about whether Keir Starmer put people off voting Labour in Burnage, Julie said: “I think it may have done, because I think people have got their eye on national issues.
“Personally, I think for the local elections we should really be looking at local issues.
“I think some people are just hungry for change, and the pace of change just isn’t fast enough for some people.”
On Andy Burnham’s future, Julie said: “I don’t want to lose him, I think he’s a treasure, and he’s really playing to his strengths here. For selfish reasons I don’t want to lose him.”
Astrid Johnson is the leader of Manchester council’s Green Party group(Image: MEN)
The Green Party group in Manchester’s town hall became the council’s largest opposition group overnight during the local elections on May 7.
Councillor Astrid Johnson, group leader at Manchester Greens, went from running an outfit of four councillors to 21.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We are moving into a new era of politics in Greater Manchester.
“It’s not just off the back of Hannah [Spencer’s] amazing win in Gorton and Denton, it’s the mood of the country.
“It shows there is a real appetite for a more collaborative way of working.”
The Green Party’s campaign in Manchester meant the party was not surprised by its victories on May 7, Councillor Johnson said, explaining that the group was actively preparing to win swathes of seats.
She added: “Our two main objectives this year are to push the Labour administration to speed up the changes that residents really want to see.
“The second priority we have is to build our expertise and ability to potentially take over and run the council in 2027.
“We’re fully behind that, it is definitely on the cards.”
As for the Green Party’s priorities in Manchester, Councillor Johnson highlighted a list of priorities, including a commitment to tackling the climate crisis, making rents and housing affordable for residents, and calling for free bus journeys for people aged under 22, among other things.
On the Green Party’s success in Manchester, Coun Johnson said: “I think in terms of the Greens, it’s the Green wall. We won the overall popular vote massively.
“I think that there is a Green wave. I think it’s a protest vote for both parties in the sense that people are fed up with the status quo, and that the two-party system has not been able to solve any of their problems, so they are seeking answers elsewhere.
“You can see that especially in Manchester people have trusted that Greens can deliver on that change.
“I can’t tell you how many people I and my colleagues spoke to, where there were so many people who said they will never ever vote Labour again.”
In north Manchester it was a different story though.
Pete Strong, 79, said he supported Reform UK(Image: Kenny Brown / MEN)
Places such as Moston returned large votes for Reform UK. In the Moston ward, Reform won 1,683 votes to Labour’s 1,498.
Reform won a total of seven council seats in Manchester on May 7, but had better success in areas such as Wigan and Tameside, further away from central Manchester.
On the streets of Moston, residents explained why the area backed Reform in the local elections.
“Any party that gets in government has got a horrific job,” said Peter Strong, 79.
“This country has been in decline, through bad immigration control, to bad management generally, going right back to the 1970s.”
He added: “I’ve supported Reform, but Reform can’t work miracles, they can’t do any better than possibly Starmer has done with this government, it’s going to take a long time to pull us back.”
Another Moston resident, Giovanna Palazzo, 52, has lived in Moston for the last ten years and said: “My personal view is that we are coming out of decades of Conservative government.
“I would give Keir Starmer some time to go ahead with his policies.”
Asked why Moston voted for a Reform UK councillor, Giovanna said: “I think probably it’s related to immigration … I don’t think it’s anything to do with their local policies specifically.
“I voted Labour in the local elections, because I saw improvements in the neighbourhood.”
Manchester council leader Bev Craig added: “The Labour-led council are getting on with the day job of making our city better, cleaner streets and improving residents’ lives.
“We were the first council in the north west to get Ofsted ‘outstanding’ children’s services and are seeing frontline basic services like street cleaning, roads, our 150 parks and green spaces, our 23 libraries and 25 leisure centres get built back up after years of austerity.
“We built more council, social and genuinely affordable homes for Manchester residents last year than we’ve done in 25 years, we are reducing homelessness, we’re improving outcomes for young people, and we are making sure regeneration improves our local high streets and centres.
“We have a track record of delivering and an ambitious plan to keep improving our city, working for the people of Manchester and people across our city won’t want that put at risk.”