Final local election results show Labour keeps hold

Labour remained dominant in the region, although lost its total control of Manchester City Council and Knowsley Council.

Votes were still being counted into the early evening of Friday 6 May, but results published by midday showed Labour made gains in Stockport, and Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson held his position for another term.

Announcements in the second half of the day showed that in Manchester, which has had an entirely Labour council since 2014, former Withington MP John Leech, a Liberal Democrat, won Didsbury West with 53% of the vote.

In Knowsley, Labour also lost total control, with three seats gained by the Liberal Democrats.

In Salford, Mayor Ian Stewart’s replacement was another Labour councillor, Paul Dennett.

Liverpool remained Labour-led, although the party did lose two seats to Liberal Democrats.

For Warrington, all seats were up for election, but Labour held control and gained five seats. The Conservatives lost three seats and the Liberal Democrats gained two.

Across Lancashire, Labour councillors held their seats, but Green candidates came second in two wards in the city council and county council. Pendle remained in no overall control.

Research from public engagement and consultation specialist Remarkable Group into the overall control of the Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region Combined Authorities showed Labour held 73.4% of seats in Greater Manchester and 78.9% in Liverpool. The Conservatives have 17.1% in Manchester, 8.5% in Liverpool; the Liberal Democrats 6.5% Manchester, 9.1% in Liverpool; and other, including Green, UKIP, and independents, 3% in Manchester and 3.5% in Liverpool.

Julian Isaacson, managing director of Remarkable Engagement, said: “Despite all the campaigning and attention, this week’s elections have seen little real change. Both main parties have suffered from damaging infighting: they may have avoided disaster, but there have been few significant successes.

“Behind all the distractions, the key point is that Labour should be doing much better against a Government so bitterly divided over Europe, and will need to if the next General Election is to have a different outcome.”