Low turnout dampens mood for Rochdale council elections, as Conservatives expect to hold Wardle and Littlebrough

By Jack Drummond, Nic Watmough & Darren Heath

The Convervatives look set to keep their seat in Wardle and Littlebrough, but low turn-outs have dampened the mood in Rochdale.

Ashley Dearnley says he is absolutely delighted that the people of Rochdale have put their trust in him once again.

"It's an honour to be able to keep serving the people of my ward, and I was confident that our hard work would pay off," he says.

"But the low turn out today is a real shame. People are upset with the Tory government and they're upset with the Lib Dems and they're upset with Labour too.

People feel like there's nobody who can make a real difference anymore, but I hope to prove them wrong."

Mr Dearnley agrees with the successful Labour candidate Alan Brett that too many people focus on national issues in these elections, and not enough at a local level.

"We can't change government policy. But we can change people's lives in Rochdale."

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