Greater Manchester local elections 2022: In-depth analysis of every borough... including an 'all out' race, our political hot potato and a controversial new battleground

Voters will choose their voices in Greater Manchester's town halls when local election polling stations open finally free from Covid restrictions on Thursday after yet another turbulent political year. From 'partygate' and the war in Ukraine to the cost of living crisis, 'levelling up' and the coronavirus pandemic, politics and its people have once again never been far from the headlines.

And the same can be said in Greater Manchester, with issues including the Clean Air Zone, major bus reform, rising council taxes and charges and claims of broken promises to the North over rail investment all hitting the front pages, alongside the defection of a Tory MP to the Labour Party in the 'red wall' constituency of Bury South.

In Manchester, a new era was ushered in as Manchester City Council appointed a new political leader for the first time in a quarter of a century; Labour's Burnage councillor Bev Craig taking the reins after Sir Richard Leese formerly stood down after 25 years at the helm. Elsewhere issues including regeneration, green belt protection and town centre redevelopment have dominated campaigning.

Despite Labour suffering significant losses in last year's local elections the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, will be tested at the ballot box for the first time since the Downing Street lockdown parties scandal and the resignation of Tory MP Neil Parish over pornography allegations, amid a backdrop of falling opinion poll ratings. Labour currently run nine of the local councils in Greater Manchester. Stockport and Bolton are in no overall control, with Stockport council under a Labour administration and the Conservatives in power in Bolton as the largest single party.

So-called 'all out' elections will be held