Great to meet with the Chancellor @RachelReevesMP alongside @Eamonn_OB, Leader of Bury Council, to discuss our ambitions for Bury town centre and Bury North. We made the case for future growth funding and highlight the huge potential of our communities. Positive discussions about how we can unlock investment, support local jobs, and deliver opportunities for residents. Looking forward to continuing to work together to secure the investment our area deserves.

In Bury, we bucked the national trend and outperformed much of Greater Manchester, resisting the scale of political shift seen elsewhere across the region and the country. While Labour lost ground in other parts of Greater Manchester and Reform performed strongly in many Labour areas, Bury delivered a different result. It may be too soon and overstated to offer it as a good example to follow but the exception is worthy of noting. Reform can be beaten back. In Bury North, only Conservative-held wards switched to Reform, and one was a defection earlier in the campaign, reinforcing the point that Reform’s advance was strongest where the Conservatives switched or collapsed rather than where Labour stood strong, present and reliable in our community. Where Labour won off the Tories in Bury North, this felt like the electorate understanding the threat to the one-time all one-nation Remain Tory ward and so they did the best thing to defeat Reform there, and voted Labour. Labour still faced real challenges, with the Workers’ Party taking a seat from Labour, abetted by the Green vote. Despite the only Labour loss Labour still finished ahead of Reform who were a close third in a busy field. Ultimately, Reform will be only the second-largest opposition party on Bury Council, as the independent Radcliffe First group remains the official opposition to the Labour-led, Labour-retained council.