33 of 96 seats (One Third) to Manchester City Council 49 seats needed for a majority
First party
Second party
Leader
Richard Leese
John Leech
Party
Labour
Liberal Democrats
Leader since
20 May 1996
5 May 2016
Leader's seat
Crumpsall
Didsbury West
Last election
33
0
Seats won
32
1
Seat change
1
1
Popular vote
56,380
13,358
Percentage
58.6%
13.9%
Swing
6.19%
Leader of Largest Party before election
Richard Leese Labour
Leader of Largest Party after election
Richard Leese Labour
Elections to Manchester City Council were held on 2 May 2019, as part of the 2019 United Kingdom local elections. In 2018 Labour retained its majority of the council with 94 seats to the Liberal Democrats making up the opposition of 2, led by former MP John Leech.
Background and campaign
Labour won every seat on Manchester City Council between 2011 and 2015. In 2016, former Liberal Democrat MP John Leech, who lost his seat in Manchester Withington in the 2015 General Election won a seat in Didsbury West and was joined by another Liberal Democrat Councillor in 2018.[1]
Following the resignation of Fallowfield councillor Grace Fletcher-Hackwood on 19 March, two vacancies were filled in the Fallowfield ward; the candidate who received the most votes won the full four-year term and the second placed candidate took over the three years remaining of the vacant seat.[2]
On 25 March, Manchester Lib Dem leader John Leech launched his party's manifesto for the 2019 elections.[3] This was followed by the Green Party launching their manifesto for the local elections on 9 April.
On 15 April, The Times uncovered a number of offensive tweets from Fallowfield Labour candidate Jade Doswell.[4] In 2014, Doswell had tweeted that she was a "little bit sick in my mouth" at the sight of an Israeli flag and claimed the flag was 'offensive' and provocative’.[5] She apologised on a private Facebook post.[6]
On 17 April, Manchester Evening News reported that the Liberal Democrat candidate for Hulme, Daniel Tóth-Nagy, had been suspended from the party after tweeting "There is no such thing as Islamophobia" and making other comments deemed Islamophobic. Tóth-Nagy denied that he had ever "express[ed] hatred or violent against any person", but the party issued a statement condemning the comments and immediately withdrew their support for him.[7][8]
On 30 April, the Manchester Evening News reported that the Conservative candidate for Charlestown, Charalampos Kagouras, had been dropped by the party as a candidate due to years of racist and Islamophobic posts on social media.[9]
Result
Changes are compared with the 2018 results. Socialist Alternative changes in vote share are compared to the results for Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition. Where 2 seats were contested simultaneously due to a vacancy the results for that ward have been normalised.
Before the election, the composition of the council was:
↓
94
2
Labour
LD
After the election, the composition of the council is:
↓
93
3
Labour
LD
Ward results
Asterisks denote incumbent Councillors seeking re-election. Councillors seeking re-election were elected in 2018, and results are compared to that year's polls on that basis.
On 24 July 2019 it was reported that Majid Dar (Ancoats and Beswick) had been suspended by the Labour Party.[12] He was readmitted to the party and to the Labour group on the council without formal announcement.[13]
On 18 March 2020 Greg Stanton (Didsbury West) resigned from the Liberal Democrats to sit as an independent. Later, in April, he joined the Labour Party.[14]
On 7 April 2020 (2020-04-07), Sue Murphy (Brooklands) died after a long illness.[15]
Clayton and Openshaw by-election
Clayton and Openshaw councillor Andy Harland died in December 2019.[16] A by-election took place on Thursday 27 February 2020 to fill the vacancy.[17] Changes are compared with the 2019 result.
By-election: Clayton & Openshaw - 27th February 2020[17]
^"Lib Dem John Leech re-elected as fellow party member Richard Kilpatrick also picks up surprise council win in Manchester". Mancunian Matters. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
^Council, Manchester City (19 April 2019). "Councillor details - Councillor Grace Fletcher-Hackwood". democracy.manchester.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
^"Lib Dems launch sweary Manchester manifesto". manchestergazette.co.uk. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
^Henry Zeffman, Kate Devlin (15 April 2019). "Labour antisemitism: Israeli flag made party candidate 'feel sick'". Retrieved 19 April 2019 – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
^Reporter, Jewish News. "Labour candidate 'sorry' for saying sight of Israeli flag made her 'feel sick'". jewishnews.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
^"Labour candidate Jade Doswell apologises for saying Israeli flag made her feel 'sick'". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
^"Lib Dem candidate suspended over comments about Muslims". Metro. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
^Abbit, Beth (17 April 2019). "Lib Dem candidate suspended from party over online comments about Muslims". Manchester Evening News.
^Williams, Jennifer (30 April 2019). "Tories drop Manchester election candidate who dubbed Curry Mile the 'P*** Mile'". Manchester Evening News.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacadaeafag"2019 Local Election Results". Manchester City Council. Manchester City Council. Archived from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
^Mills, Jen (18 April 2019). "Lib Dem candidate suspended over comments about Muslims". Metro UK. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
^Williams, Jennifer (24 July 2019). "Manchester councillor suspended amid anti-semitism investigation". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
^"Councillor Details - Councillor Majid Dar". democracy.manchester.gov.uk. Manchester City Council. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
^"Councillor Details - Councillor Greg Stanton". democracy.manchester.gov.uk. Manchester City Council. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
^Williams, Jen (7 April 2020). "Heartbreak and shock as Manchester council's 'kind, compassionate' deputy leader dies". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
^Williams, Jennifer (24 December 2019). "'Positive, principled' Manchester councillor dies after a lifetime dedicated to his community". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
^ ab"Clayton & Openshaw By-Election Results - 27 February 2020". manchester.gov.uk. Manchester City Council. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.