Bury local elections 2022: Everything you need to know

An indication of how important Bury is seen by the major parties is that Keir Starmer launched the Labour Party’s local election campaign there last month and Boris Johnson himself visited just last week.

The council is currently Labour run with them holding a solid majority of 28 of the 51 seats, the Conservatives have 15 with four Liberal Democrats, three Radcliffe First and a single Independent member.

This year will see an ‘all out’ election with voters able to cast three votes to select an entirely new council. A total of 147 candidates are standing for three councillor positions in each of the 17 wards which make up the town.

READ MORE: Greater Manchester local elections 2022: In-depth analysis of every borough

The elections will take place on Thursday, May 5, from 7am until 10pm. Candidates from the Labour and Conservatives will contest every seat in every ward and hyperlocal party Radcliffe First will field nine candidates for the nine available seats in the town’s three wards.

The Liberal Democrats and Green parties are fielding several candidates and are joined by a number of independents and a single candidate each from the English Democrats and the Communist Party.

A total of 11 sitting councillors are not seeking re-election this year, among them the current Mayor, Tim Pickstone and Trevor Holt, the borough’s longest serving councillor with 37 years.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked the leaders of the parties standing for their comments to voters ahead of the elections.

A Labour spokesman, said: “Use all three votes for Labour on May 5 to send the Tories a message and elect councillors who’ll be on your side through the Tory cost of living crisis. Your Labour council will spend £2.5 million this