On an election night which saw a number of electoral shocks across the country, results were much more predictable in Trafford where both incumbent MPs retained their seats.
With a strong turnout in Stretford and Urmston and in Sale and Altrincham West, Labour’s Kate Green and the Conservatives’ Graham Brady both won strong victories in their respective constituencies.
Brady won more than 50% of the vote in Altrincham and Sale while Kate Green took nearly 67% of the votes cast in Stretford and Urmston.
The other parties performed poorly, the strongest of the candidates being Jane Brophy for the Liberal Democrats in Altrincham and Sale West who won just over 4000 votes
Despite being as far as 20 points behind in the polls at one point during the campaign, Labour’s success over the country was mirrored in Stretford and Urmston where Green increased her vote by more than 13%.
And she said she felt the result there was indicative of the mood across the country.
She said: ““Tonight we saw a remarkable and dramatic set of results right across the country. We are seeing people across the land calling for change.”
In Altrincham and Sale West, the losing Labour candidate Andrew Western fought a strong campaign and won more than 20,000 votes.
Labour’s share of the vote was up 12% on the election of 2015 but it wasn’t enough for him to pip Brady, who is sure to be busy as an influential member of the Tories backbench.
Western said he was disappointed not to win the seat but said that a vote for him had been a vote ‘for a government led by the principles of fairness and equality’.
While Brady is celebrating his sixth election victory, he did express concern about the national result.
He said: “It’s almost the worst possible outcome for the country when it’s faced by the challenge of its future relationship with the European Union in ten days time.”
When asked if the election was a mistake, he said it was necessary for two reasons: to prevent an unelected House of Lords from interfering in the Brexit process and to give the government a “Longer term to deal with complex issues” of Brexit negotiations.
He stated that his main aim locally is to maintain the quality of life and the education facilities available to the constituents of Sale and Altrincham.
Taking a similar line to some of his colleague, Brady admitted that it would be a tough job to unite the country but was confident that it would be the Conservative Party governing the country.
