The Green Party candidates for Salford and Eccles and Worsley and Eccles South are delighted with the party’s growing profile.
Emma Van Dyke (Salford and Eccles) and Chris Bertenshaw (Worsley and Eccles South) were speaking at the count in Salford.
The two hopefuls said they were proud of how far the party has come.
Mr Bertenshaw said: “I’m really proud what we have done in this area.
“In the space of a year, we have had to establish a structure and learn the political process from scratch, and we have managed to get candidates entered into nearly all of the Manchester constituencies, which is a huge step.
“We have also seen a surge in membership nationwide and are now the UK’s third largest party in that regard. We have had a couple of stumbling blocks with some of Natalie Bennett’s interviews being taken the wrong way, but overall the campaign has been really positive.”
Ms Van Dyke said: “It is looking like we are going to keep our deposits, which is a good sign in itself, especially considering we don’t take donations from huge corporations.”
The pair funded their respective campaigns via the crowdfunder website.
While their expectations are realistic, Green duo emphasised that this election was a learning process for the future and they were looking forward to finding out how their first campaign had been received.
