Labour are celebrating after tightening their grip across Rochdale, winning 16 of the 20 contested wards at the council elections last night.
Wardle and West Littleborough, Norden and Bamford are the only wards to now hold Conservative seats, while Liberal Democrats clawed control on one seat in North Heywood.
This is an improvement on the 2012 Rochdale council elections for Liberal Democrats, who walked away with no wins just two years ago.
Ensure you follow MM’s live blog of all the results across Greater Manchester here.
The evening at Rochdale Town Hall seemed tense at first, with people excitedly awaiting the results after counting began at 10.20pm.
But a slow five hours later, the room was overcome by exhaustion after the European vote validation caused a lengthy delay.
Labour’s obvious self-assurance throughout the night was vindicated when the count announcements were made, followed by an eruption of cheers from all corners of the hall.
Ed Miliband’s party received huge numbers of votes in certain wards, some pulling in more than 40% of the vote.
When asked how he felt about the results, Colin Lambert, Labour Leader of the Council and Lead Member for Health, said: “At four in the morning? Tired, like the rest of us I suppose.”
VICTORIOUS: Council leader Colin Lambert savours Labour victory
“But what I have to show locally is that this Labour council, even with a massive majority – the biggest we’ve ever had – is capable of listening.
“The message to my group is to listen to what was said out there by the voters; no internal arguments, get out there, listen to the voters and show that in the council chamber.”
The main topic of deliberation throughout the night however was UKIP’s potentially threatening rise in popularity.
Councillor Lambert reminded MM that the significance of UKIP’s participation is often overlooked.
He said: “I think the unknown part of the equation throughout has been the involvement of UKIP; them standing in so many seats and then the very fact that you’ve got the EU elections, which is their target.”
Green Party candidate for Kingsway, Mark Hollinrake, came in second behind Labour, beating the Conservatives and Lib Dems.
He felt the results had gone exactly how he had expected: “Labour’s done very well, I’m not surprised at all.
LONG NIGHT: Tellers count up the votes til the early hours
“Obviously you have a couple of wards where they ran very close by UKIP, but UKIP next year won’t have the same kind of votes because of the European elections.”
Anthony Smith, Liberal Democratic candidate for Castleton, said of UKIP’s popularity: “Anybody that tries to sell you a simple solution to a complex problem is either completely deluded or very dangerous.
“Nigel Farage for me is that type of nasty character with an affable charm, and it’s a very dangerous mix.”
Despite losing out to Labour on many seats, the Conservative Party were pleased with their wins in Norden, West Littleborough and Bamford.
Conservative Councillor Mike Holly, having won a seat in Norden, said: “We’re really happy with the result; the main thing is we have a great team in Norden, three Conservatives, a really great team and we get on well together.
“We work hard for the residents of Norden and I think it’s best foot forward now. We’re keeping a winning team moving forward.”
GO GREEN: Big victory for Green Party in Kingsway ward
The Green Party also impressed many attendees when their candidate Mark Hollinrake won more votes than the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives for the Kingsway ward.
“It’s gone very well, I’m really impressed,” Mr Holinrake said. “Labour are very strong and the Liberals and the Tories, apart from a couple of wards, have fallen way behind.”
Balderstone and Kirkholt (Labour takeover from Lib Dems)
Kathleen Nickson, LAB 1088
Michael Anslow, UKIP 669
Keith Taylor, CON 262
John Swarbrick, LD 183
Bamford (Conservative hold)
Ian Duckworth, CON 1644
Mohammed Miah, LAB 755
Peter Clegg, LD 438
Castleton (Labour takeover from Lib Dems)
Aasim Rashid, LAB 1120
Peter Davison, IND 716
Ronald Crossley, CON 459
Anthony Smith, LD 269
Central Rochdale (Labour hold)
Sultan Ali, LAB 2509
Rosemary Jones, LD 228
Andy Littlewood, IND 224
Sajad Ali, CON 193
East Middleton (Labour hold)
June West, LAB 1092
Angela Gardner, UKIP 749
Teresa Fitzsimons, CON 365
Irene Cooper, LD 112
Healey (Labour takeover from Lib Dems)
Kieran Heakin, LAB 1027
Lee Durrant, CON 877
Maureen Kershaw, UKIP 723
Tom Bailey, LD 214
Mick Coats, GRN 146
Hopwood Hall (Labour hold)
Carol Wardle, LAB 1275
Michael Foster, UKIP 769
Christopher Birchenough, CON 315
Tony MacSparran, LD 97
Kingsway (Labour hold)
Daalat Ali, LAB 1934
Mark Hollinrake, GRN 355
David Clayton, LD 324
John Kershaw, CON 303
Littleborough Lakeside (Labour takeover from Conservative)
Janet Emsley, LAB 1015
Stephanie Mills, CON 773
Ed Aadahl, UKIP 763
Glynis Coats, GRN 120
Keith Swift, LD 86
Milkstone and Deeplish (Labour takeover from Lib Dems)
Sameena Zaheer, LAB 2111
Rifat Mahmood, CON 438
Neville Westerman, UKIP 192
Sarah Bibi, IND 137
Dave Edler, Respect 132
Gordon Wharton, LD 130
Milnrow and Newhey (Labour gain from Lib Dems)
Neil Butterworth, LAB 1116
Andy Kelly, LD 1103
James Conboy, CON 564
Helen Andrews, GRN 291
Norden (Conservative takeover from Lib Dems)
Mike Holly, CON 1117
Mervyn Simpson, UKIP 641
Anthony Bennett, LAB 637
Stephen Anderson, LD 178
Ian Andrews, GRN 131
North Heywood (Lib Dems hold)
Peter Rush, LD 998
Daniel Meredith, LAB 899
Phil Humphreys, UKIP 550
Jacqueline Holt, CON 125
North Middleton (Labour hold)
Christopher Furlong, LAB 851
David Kenworthy, UKIP 779
Barbara Braiden, CON 273
Richard Whitaker, IND 129
John Wilkins, LD 55
Smallbridge and Firgrove (Labour hold)
John Blundell, LAB 1717
Leonard Branton, CON 471
Eatzaz Asim, LD 345
South Middleton (Labour takeover from Conservative)
Andrew Bell, LAB 1226
Sean Page, UKIP 781
Bernard Braiden, CON 677
Abigail Jackson, GRN 150
Phil Jayes, LD 89
Spotland and Falinge (Labour hold)
Surinder Biant, LAB 1316
Michael Singleton, UKIP 635
Carl Faulkner, IND 567
Asif Khan, CON 303
Jack Rawstron, LD 197
Wardle and West Littleborough (Conservative hold)
Robert Clegg, CON 1458
David Finlay, LAB 549
David Bamford, LD 413
Fearn Thomas, GRN 283
West Heywood (Labour hold)
Alan McCarthy, LAB 1029
Warren Mitchell, UKIP 1006
Jane Howard, CON 248
Peter Malcolm, LD 97
West Middleton (Labour hold)
Neil Emmott, LAB 1167
Lee Seville, UKIP 855
Frank Ferrari, CON 174
Frank Cooper, LD 126
Full breakdown of results and more reaction to follow through the day. Check back for updates.
