The Reform Group says it aims to ‘hold their feet to the fire’.
(Image: Copyright Unknown)
Tameside’s Labour boss has clung onto power at the town hall after the new Reform group launched a leadership bid against them at the first council meeting since the local elections.
The Reform group challenged Labour on the position of Executive Leader and Chair of the Council, a non-political position who is supposed to ensure meetings run fairly and smoothly. Both attempts were scuppered, after the local Conservative group elected to throw their support behind the existing administration to avoid a ‘political deadlock’ as is currently the case in Oldham.
The meeting, which took place in a sweltering town hall on Tuesday night, May 26, saw the Reform group put forward councillor Allan Hopwood as an alternative leader to coun Eleanor Wills, who has led the council since 2024. Coun Christopher Stones was proposed as a possible replacement of Chair coun Joe Kitchen, in a move Reform claimed would make the council ‘more politically balanced’ in light of the recent election result.
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Earlier this month, the group swept aside 47 years of Labour control after winning a staggering 18 out of 19 seats. The results left the council in no overall control, with 25 Labour councillors, 19 Reform, five conservatives, four independents, and four members of the independent group.
The Reform group challenged Labour on the position of Executive Leader and Chair of the Council.(Image: Copyright Unknown)
“People have voted based on change, not to stick with what we’re doing now,” Coun Frater said. “There’s no point in making the same decisions we have always made. There’s no overall majority. So we need fair representation in the council, and doing it the way we’re doing it now is not fair.”
Coun Roberts added: “We intend to hold your feet to the fire, to make sure you do take notice of what residents are saying. … You don’t look at the consequences of your actions, you just do what looks good on paper. The residents say no.”
Labour councillors admitted they were in ‘uncharted waters’ following the local elections, and that residents of Tameside had made their ‘voices heard’. But as well as extolling the achievements and merits of their colleagues, they argued the borough needed ‘stability’ and ‘experienced councillors’ at the helm.
Coun Wills, defending her chair, coun Kitchen, said: “At a moment when this chamber is seeing an influx of new councillors, shifting group dynamics, and a rapidly changing political landscape, the one thing that we cannot afford to lose is stability.
“This is not the moment to experiment and hand the gabble to someone without experience.”
The group saw an unlikely source of support in Tameside’s Conservative group, though the group were at pains to emphasise there was ‘no coalition, no alliance, no secret deals’ between the councillors.
The town hall was well visited for the mayor-making ceremony. (Image: Copyright Unknown)
Instead, coun Doreen Dickinson addressed the new Reform councillors directly. “Everybody accepts that the country has wanted change,” she said. “Tameside has had massive change. That’s what the people want. But you can’t run before you can walk. I want this council to be stable, with a stable chair and leader. You’re all brand new. You have no idea what you’re doing. You have to learn, and then you can take over.”
Both attempts ultimately failed, with the coun Wills once again sworn in as leader. The proceedings were watched on by a well-visited public gallery, including one protestor who held a sign criticising the Labour group – though this was eventually repurposed into a hand-held fan in the 30 degree weather.
After securing her continued leadership, Wills also addressed the Reform group, stating: “I will stand here and continue to fight for the people of Tameside, until they tell me your voice is the only one they want to hear.”
The meeting also saw the appointment of the borough’s new civic mayor, coun Helen Bowden. She took over the ceremonial title from councillor Shibley Alam, whom coun Bowden described as ‘sister from another mother’. Coun Alam last year became the first woman born in Bangladesh to become mayor of a council in the North of England.
