Local elections 'devastating' for Conservatives in Trafford

The 2022 local elections have proved 'devastating' for Trafford's Conservatives after the party lost their leader and four seats in the council chamber.

The party's share of the vote 'completely collapsed' in what was once a flagship Tory town hall.

Labour gained one seat - retaining overall council control - as did the Greens. The Liberal Democrats gained two seats.

All seats won were taken from the Conservatives.

The group's leader, Nathan Evans, lost his seat in Timperley by a decisive margin to Liberal Democrat Will Frass.

Outgoing Mr Evans took to social media to thank his team for their work during the campaign and his time in charges, and also to give his best wishes to his successor.

Will Frass, and Shaun Ennis, newly-elected Lib Dem councillors for Timperley and Village respectively both said they were 'really pleased' their hard work payed off 'in big way'.

Councillor Frass said: "It's been more than a decade since we were this big, we have five councillors now, it's a real comeback. It was an emphatic endorsement with a good turn out and a majority in both wards".

Shaun Ennis tweeted to say he had had support from people who had never voted Liberal Democrat before.

Mr Ennis also said "The Conservatives have completely collapsed in Trafford, they're now too small to form a functioning opposition group, so we'll be stepping up to be that functioning opposition and hold Labour to account.

"For what was a flagship Tory council not too long ago, it's been a really serious collapse."

In the south of the borough, the Greens took Conservative strong-hold seat Hale Central by nearly 500 votes.

Hale Central has been Tory since its inception in 2004, and before that when it was part of the larger Hale ward.

It had been blue since the 1970s, but it was the Green's Leicester elected as ward councillor, who said she was "absolutely ecstatic".

She said: "I almost didn't want to hope, but at one point looked closer and as it was getting higher during the count I was just amazed.

"We've had a fantastic day in Greater Manchester with three new Greens now, it just feels like the Green movement is really growing and people are starting to believe we actually can win"

Trafford Council leader, Councillor Andrew Western, said he was "ecstatic" after his party snatched another seat in Ashton on Mersey from the Tories.

"We won everything we could and we won it well. It's been a terrible night for the Tories, but that isn't taking away from what has been another brilliant day for us," he said.

"We've seen change in Ashton in the last few years. Now, there are three Labour councillors there, we've never had Labour councillor until 2019 and we've got a handsome majority to boot.

"Thank you to everyone who turned out to vote, whoever you voted for and to those who put their trust in Labour."