Number of candidates set to contest Oldham elections drops to 95

Number of candidates set to contest Oldham elections drops to 95

With the local elections in the East Lancashire mill town less than three weeks away, the statutory list of wards, candidates, and their proposers and seconders, has been published by Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council (see here). There are twenty wards in the Borough, and the Council, as part of its Publication Scheme, provides impressive in-depth…

Neil Wilby

April 16, 2021

4–5 minutes

Abdul Jabbar, Alexandra, Amanda Chadderton, Amoy Crooks, Andrea Valencia, Anne Taylor, Anthony Cahill, Anthony Prince, Barbara Beeley, Basit Shah, Bernard Akin, Beth Sharp, Brian Banawich, Brian Lord, Cath Ball, Cath Jackson, Chadderton Central, Chadderton North, Chadderton South, Chris Goodwin, Chris Green, Chris Jones, Cllr John Hudson, Coldhurst, Connor Green, Crompton, Daniel Clayton, Dave Arnott, David Cahill, Diane Williamson, Dr Carolyn Wilkins, Elaine Taylor, Failsworth East, Failsworth Independent Party, Failsworth West, Fazlul Haque, Fida Hussain, Freedom Solaiman, Garth Harkness, Gary Tarbuck, Helen Bishop, Hollinwood, Howard Sykes, Hussain Aftab, Ian Bond, Imran Yousaf, Jack Dickenson, Jawaad Hussain, Jean Betteridge, Jess Mahoney, Jim Stidworthy, Joe Beeston, Joe Gloster, John Hudson, Jonathan Ford, Kathryn Banawich, Katie Gloster, Keith Pendlebury, Ken Berry, Ken Rustidge, Kevin Dawson, Kyle Phythian, Lewis Quigg, Lina Valencia-Shaw, Linda Dawson, Lisa Roddy, Liz Jacques, Luke Lancaster, Lynne Thompson, Mark Birchall, Mark Hince, Mark Kenyon, Mark Wilkinson, Martin Dinoff, Max Woodvine, Medlock Vale, Michele Stockton, Mick Hardwood, Mick Scholes, Miranda Meadowcroft, Mohammed Islam, Mohammed Jahan, Mohammed Rahman, Montaz Azad, Mujibur Rahman, Neil Hindle, Neil Wilby, Neil Wilby Journalist, Northern Heart UK, Pat Lord, Paul Goldring, Paul Shilton, Paul Taylor, POOS, Proud of Oldham and Saddleworth, Rachel Pendlebury, Reform UK, Richard Darlington, Rob Vance, Robert Barnes, Roger Pakeman, Ronald Bailey, Ros Birch, Royton North, Royton South, Russ Gosling, Saddleworth North, Saddleworth South, Saddleworth West & Lees, Sahr Abid, Sajjad Hussain, Sean Fielding, Sharif Miah, Shaw, Shefur Miah, Simon Hodgson, St James, St Marys, Stephanie Shuttleworth, Steve Hewitt, Syed Ali, Tom Lord, Tracy Woodward, UKIP, Ur-Rehman Ateeque, Vita Price, Warren Bates, Waterhead, Werneth, Worker's Party of Britain, Zahid Chauhan

There are twenty wards in the Borough, and the Council, as part of its Publication Scheme, provides impressive in-depth profiles and statistics for each on its website (read here).

Ten different parties are represented (if Labour and Co-op, and the Labour Party, are counted as one) and a total of ninety-five candidates will go to the polls.

The two Labour parties, between them, field candidates in all twenty wards, as do the Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats. The Green Party has eleven candidates; Proud of Oldham and Saddleworth (the POOS) put up eight; there are five independents; Northern Heart UK has four; United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), Reform UK and Failsworth Independent Party (the FIPs) all have two; Worker’s Party of Britain has just the one. Making up the total of ninety-five. In 2019, there were one hundred and two.

Labour

Zahid Chauhan (Alexandra); Elaine Taylor (Chadderton Central); Mohammed Islam (Chadderton North); Chris Goodwin (Chadderton South); Abdul Jabbar (Coldhurst); Basit Shah (Crompton); Liz Jacques (Failsworth East); Sean Fielding (Failsworth West); Kyle Phythian (Hollinwood); Ur-Rehman Ateeque (Medlock Vale); Mick Harwood (Royton North); Amanda Chadderton (Royton North); Connor Green (Saddleworth North); Stephanie Shuttleworth (Saddleworth South); Ken Rustidge (Saddleworth West & Lees); Cath Ball (St.James); Imran Yousaf (St.Marys); Syed Ali (Shaw); Ros Birch (Waterhead); Fida Hussain.

Conservatives

Jonathan Ford (Alexandra); Sharif Miah (Chadderton Central); Mohammed Jahan (Chadderton North); Robert Barnes (Chadderton South); David Cahill (Coldhurst); Lewis Quigg (Crompton); Shefur Miah (Failsworth East); Jawaad Hussain (Failsworth West); Michele Stockton (Hollinwood); Sahr Abid (Medlock Vale); Dave Arnott (Royton North); Ian Bond (Royton North); Luke Lancaster (Saddleworth North); Max Woodvine (Saddleworth South); Anthony Cahill (Saddleworth West & Lees); Beth Sharp (St.James); Mujibur Rahman (St.Marys); Tom Lord (Shaw); Sajjad Hussain (Waterhead); Mohammed Rahman (Werneth).

Liberal Democrats

Martin Dinoff (Alexandra); Barbara Beeley (Chadderton Central); Katie Gloster (Chadderton North); Joe Beeston (Chadderton South); Mick Scholes (Coldhurst); Diane Williamson (Crompton); Lynne Thompson (Failsworth East); Richard Darlington (Failsworth West); Brian Lord (Hollinwood); Rachel Pendlebury (Medlock Vale); Russ Gosling (Royton North); Ken Berry (Royton North); Garth Harkness (Saddleworth North); Kevin Dawson (Saddleworth South); Mark Kenyon (Saddleworth West & Lees); Joe Gloster (St.James); Pat Lord (St. Marys); Howard Sykes (Shaw); Linda Dawson (Waterhead); Keith Pendlebury (Werneth).

Green Party

Andrea Valencia-Chiverra (Alexandra); Jess Mahoney (Chadderton Central); Daniel Clayton (Chadderton North); Jean Betteridge (Coldhurst); Lina Valencia-Shaw (Crompton); Jim Stidworthy (Royton North); Kathryn Banawich (Saddleworth North); Brian Banawich (Saddleworth South); Roger Pakeman (St. James); Miranda Meadowcroft (St.Marys); Freedom Solaiman (Waterhead).

Proud of Oldham and Saddleworth

Ronald Bailey (Hollinwood); Mark Birchall (Medlock Vale); Paul Goldring (Royton North); Gary Tarbuck (Saddleworth North); Simon Hodgson (Saddleworth South); Paul Shilton (Saddleworth West & Lees); Amoy Crooks (St. James); Mark Hince (Shaw).

Independents

Tracy Woodward (Chadderton North); Montaz Ali Azad (Coldhurst); Warren Bates (Failsworth West); Helen Bishop (Saddleworth South); Hussain Aftab (St. Marys).

Northern Heart UK

Jack Dickenson (Chadderton Central); Cath Jackson (Chadderton South); Rob Vance (Crompton); Anne Fiander-Taylor (Royton North); Paul Taylor (Waterhead).

UKIP

Bernard Akin (Chadderton South); Anthony Prince (Royton North).

Reform UK

Colin Jones (Royton North); Chris Green (Saddleworth North).

Failsworth Independent Party

Neil Hindle (Failsworth East); Mark Wilkinson (Failsworth West).

Worker’s Party of Britain

Lisa Roddy (Chadderton South).

Three wards have six candidates contesting each seat; Royton South, Saddleworth North and Saddleworth South. At the other end of the scale, Werneth has just three.

Four councillors are not standing for re-election: Fazlul Haque (Labour, Chadderton North), Steve Hewitt (Labour, Saddleworth West and Lees), John Hudson (Conservative leader, Saddleworth South) and Vita Price (Labour, Waterhead). Forty councillors are not on the ballot papers, as their terms of office do not end until either 2022 or 2023.

Cllr Hudson retires after 50 years of service to the community. Since 2000, as a Borough councillor and as Mayor of Oldham in 2013/14. He was awarded an OBE in 2017 by the Queen for charitable and political service.

This is the present composition of the Council:

Turnout, in the aftermath of a virus epidemic, is even more of an unknown in this election year than ever. In 2019, 32.95% went out to vote.

The election count in Oldham will take place in various rooms around the Civic Centre and Sports Centre overnight on 6th/7th May, 2021, in order to maintain COVID-safe conditions.

The Mayoral count will take place on Saturday 8th May, 2021.

Returning Officer is Dr Carolyn Wilkins, the Council’s chief executive.

Page last updated: Saturday 17th April, 2021 at 1445 hours

Corrections: Please let me know if there is a mistake in this article. I will endeavour to correct it as soon as possible.

Right of reply: If you are mentioned in this article and disagree with it, please let me have your comments. Provided your response is not defamatory it will be added to the article.

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© Neil Wilby 2015-2021. Unauthorised use, or reproduction, of the material contained in this article, without permission from the author, is strictly prohibited. Extracts from, and links to, the article (or blog) may be used, provided that credit is given to Neil Wilby Media, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

4 responses to “Number of candidates set to contest Oldham elections drops to 95”

Absent of evidence – Neil Wilby

April 18, 2021 at 8:08 am

[…] full list of wards and nominations published by the Council’s Returning Officer can be found (here). There is also a helpful party by party breakdown of candidates and other interesting statistical […]

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Election by stealth? – Neil Wilby

April 18, 2021 at 8:14 am

[…] full list of wards and nominations published by the Council’s Returning Officer can be found (here). There is also a helpful party by party breakdown of candidates and other interesting statistical […]

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A dirty business – Neil Wilby

April 27, 2021 at 4:45 pm

[…] power will be witnessed. Ninety-five candidates are chasing votes in twenty wards (see full details here), seven less than in […]

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Countdown to local elections in Failsworth begins – Neil Wilby Media

February 10, 2022 at 8:54 am

[…] Tags:Cllr Pete Davis, Dr Zahid Chauhan, Failsworth Independent Party, Failsworth Street Patrol, John Lawrence, Kaiser Rehman, Marzia Babakarkhail, Neil Wilby, Neil Wilby Journalist, Neil Wilby Media, Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, Paul Wadsworth, Raja Miah, Richard Darlington, Sean Fielding, Warren Bates, Wazza Bates Twelve weeks today and Failsworth will go to the polls to elect two local councillors. Because of the local, regional and national attention the town received, following Sean Fielding‘s controversial defeat in May, 2021, the spotlight is likely to be trained heavily in this direction once again (read more here). This is the state of play on candidates, as presently known. Labour will field sitting councillor, Pete Davis, in West ward, and former Afghanistan judge, Marzia Babakarkhail, in East (read more here). It is expected that the full Party machine will swing into action on what is seen as a key battleground. The Failsworth Independent Party has made no announcement. Although the social media posturing of local man, Paul Wadsworth, a former soldier and founder of and main man in the controversial ‘vigilante’ group, Failsworth Street Patrol, has led to speculation that he may be standing in West ward. For the May, 2021 elections, FIP announced their candidates a full year beforehand. There is much speculation that they are struggling for candidates willing to stand for a party with no discernable policies and a record of almost zero achievement in the Civic Centre. The Liberal Democrats are yet to select their candidates, but Richard Darlington, who stood in East ward in 2021, has left the area and won’t be standing in East ward. The Oldham and Saddleworth Conservative Group is said to be struggling for both Members and activists in the North Manchester suburb. Their campaign is expected to be low key, beyond the posturing of their leading ‘electioneer’, Kaiser Rehman, who has attached himself to a group of Failsworth orientated social media trolls who style themselves as ‘The Warriors of Oldham’. Kaiser is ineligible to stand as he was convicted of harassing Dr Zahid Chauhan in August, 2021 and is, presently on prison licence, serving an eighteen month suspended jail sentence. 84 year old Warren Bates, a perennially controversial figure, may not be standing at all this year as he faces a police complaint over 2021 election expenses irregularities. There was previously speculation that he would join hands with FIP in an attempt to dislodge Pete Davis in West ward (read more here). Wazza, as he is known locally, has also had meetings with both the Workers’ Party and a new entity founded by Britain First leading light, John Lawrence, styled NHPUK. He is also very strongly attached to Raja Miah, a disgraced political activist from Tameside, who is currently on court bail awaiting trial over harassment and malicious communication charges (read more here). Miah recently reversed his previous, and avid, support for the Failsworth Independent Party, so crucial in dislodging Sean Fielding, by very publicly describing its leading lights as “thick as pigshit”. That could well prove to be portentous come the early hours of 6th May, 2022. The full list of candidates who stood in the May, 2021 elections can be viewed here. […]

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