With the Tories polling well across the north and the nation, Councillor Ruth Welsh could have been forgiven for being confident of retaining her Hyde Werneth seat.
However, the local Labour party has successfully targeted the ward in recent years and made inroads on occasion - even costing Ruth the seat in the past.
This time was very different however, with the deputy leader of the Tameside Tories cementing her majority, finishing more than 400 votes clear of Labour with a shade over 1,900 votes.
🗳 RESULT 🗳
— Tameside Reporter (@newsintameside) May 7, 2021
Hyde Werneth
🟢 Nicola Harrop (Green) 237
🟡 Richard O’Brien (Liberal Democrat) 118
🔴 Hugh Roderick (Labour) 1496
🔵 Ruth Welsh (Conservative) 1903 pic.twitter.com/yR59AxiF9I
“I am delighted to have been re-elected to Werneth and would like to thank everyone who took the time to vote for me, especially in such dreadful weather,” she said.
“It was a very different election than normal, however it was run fantastically by the council and everyone I spoke to felt safe and secure in the polling stations.”
Hugh Roderick for Labour polled 1,496 with the other two parties - the Greens and Liberal Democrats - a distant third and fourth on 237 and 118 votes respectively.
WE DID IT: With hand shakes and hugs a thing of the past - for this election at least - John Bell congratulates Cllr Ruth Welsh on retaining her seat with an increased majority by touching elbows.
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