2026 Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council election
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7 May 2026
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The 2026 Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council election will take place on Thursday 7 May 2026, alongside other local elections in the United Kingdom. One third of the 60 members of Oldham Council in Greater Manchester will be elected.
Following the 2024 election, Oldham fell into no overall control. A minority Labour administration was formed which continues to govern.
Labour have traditionally formed the administration of Oldham Council. From its creation in 1973 to 2024, Labour have formed majority administrations apart from the periods between 1994 and 1995, 2000 and 2003 (when the Liberal Democrats became the largest single party), and 2007 and 2011 (having again been overtaken by the Liberal Democrats).[2]
The 2024 election saw Labour lose four seats, and with it their majority on the council. Two independent councillors (both part of the Independent Group on the council) supported the incumbent Labour leader Arooj Shah in a confidence vote, allowing the Labour administration to continue as a minority.[3] Two other groupings of independents existed following the election; the Oldham Group (consisting of ex-Conservatives and anti-Labour independents)[4] and the Royton Independents (consisting of the two independent councillors for Royton South). The Oldham Group has since registered as a political party.[5]
New ward boundaries were used for the 2023 election – this election will be for the councillors who placed second in each of the twenty three-member wards.[6] Labour will be defending eleven seats, the Liberal Democrats will be defending four, the Conservatives will be defending three, independents will be defending one, and the Failsworth Independent Party will be defending one.
Council composition
| After 2024 election | Before 2026 election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Seats | Party | Seats | ||
| Labour | 27 | Labour | 27 | ||
| Liberal Democrats | 9 | Liberal Democrats | 9 | ||
| Oldham Group | N/A | Oldham Group | 9 | ||
| Conservative | 8 | Conservative | 6 | ||
| Reform | 0 | Reform | 3 | ||
| FIP | 2 | FIP | 2 | ||
| Independent | 14 | Independent | 4 | ||
Changes 2024–2026:
- January 2025: Graham Sheldon (Conservative) leaves party to sit as an independent[7]
- August 2025: The Oldham Group Party formed – Shoab Akhtar (Independent), Zaheer Ali (Independent), Montaz Ali Azad (Independent), Naveed Chowan (Independent), Kamran Ghafoor (Independent), Nyla Ibrahim (Independent), Aisha Kouser (Independent), Graham Sheldon (Independent), and Abdul Wahid (Independent) join party
- September 2025: Sandra Ball (Independent), Lewis Quigg (Conservative), and Mark Wilkinson (Independent) join Reform[8]
Summary
Election result
| 2026 Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council election | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | This election | Full council | This election | |||||||
| Seats | Net | Seats % | Other | Total | Total % | Votes | Votes % | +/− | ||
| Labour | 15 | |||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | 5 | |||||||||
| Oldham Group | 8 | |||||||||
| Conservative | 4 | |||||||||
| Independent | 4 | |||||||||
| Reform | 3 | |||||||||
| FIP | 1 | |||||||||
| Green | 0 | |||||||||
