Lib Dems takes off Labour and The Tories!

A night of drama and a few surprises sees the Liberal Democrats by far the largest group on the council now with 30 seats; Labour has 20 seats and the Conservatives 10 seats.

Liberal Democrat leader Alan Taylor, who retained his seat comfortably, said that the Liberal Democrats will be claiming the right to lead the council. He said: "We have 30 seats and are the largest group on the council; the voters of Rochdale have spoken and they clearly want a Liberal Democrat run council. If the other two parties get together to try and deny us that then so be it but we will resist strongly."

Councillor Ian Duckworth, leader of the Conservative Group, could not hide his deep disappointment of the Conservative candidates in Norden and in Bamford losing to Wera and William Hobhouse. He said: "The result is bad for us, though we have gained one seat I expected we would hold both Norden and Bamford and I feel sorry for the excellent candidates we put up that have lost out." Asked if he felt that co-operating with Labour was the deciding factor he said: "I am the leader of the group so I take full responsibility for that decision. I felt it was the right one at the time, and I still think it is the right one now, though I admit it does not look to have gone down well with our voters."

Wera and William Hobhouse were clearly elated at having won their seats in Liberal Democrat colours and even they expressed surprise at how comfortably they did so. Wera said: "I have worked hard in the ward and I think the voters appreciated that. I never take anything for granted and I am careful not to make any promises I cannot keep, but it is a good night for William and I and we are very keen to continue representing our wards." Asked if she was surprised at her husband retaining Bamford when many had predicted he would lose she said: "William is a very organised man, and when he plays games he plays to win, so I am not surprised, he is my husband and so even though I say it myself, he is very good."

Two first time candidates made gains for the Liberal Democrats, Mark Birkett winning Kingsway with the slenderest of margins to take Labour's Tom Stott's seat on the council. Mark said of his win: "I understand the hard work starts now. I had a good team and they did everything they could to get me elected and it has paid off. However, I realise that with the vote being so close I have to convince a lot of people who didn't vote for me in the ward, but I intend to represent all the constituents of the ward."

The spectacular gain of the night was achieved by Dale Mulgrew in Balderstone and Kirkholt in what was previously a solid Labour ward. Dale almost doubled the Lib Dem vote whilst Labours vote shrank to just two thirds of the 2004 result. Speaking to Rochdale Online within seconds of the result being announced Dale said: "I am absolutely delighted, I knew I had done well but I didn't dare think that I had won until all the votes were counted." He went on to say: "I am very much looking forward to continuing to try and address issues in the ward. I have been active on that front since last year, but being a councillor will make it easier to influence the things that need addressing."

The one blot on the Liberal Democrat landscape was the loss of Deputy Leader Shah Wazir who failed to hold his Central seat. He feared the worst from his viewpoint as the count progressed and left the Town Hall quickly when the result became apparent.

In Heywood - Ex Rugby Star and self-confessed 'Mr Heywood' - Councillor Peter Rush defeated Heywood Township boss - Nick Maher to take his seat on the council.

Council Chief Executive Roger Ellis explained that the council meeting that will take place on the 17 May will decide who runs the council and is dependent on a vote by all councillors. If all 60 councillors attend and the Labour and Conservative Groups agree to continue working together then a potential 30-30 vote would leave the incoming Mayor, Labour Councillor Jean Hornby with a casting vote.

There could of course be a lot of horse trading between now and the 17th, watch this space…