By George Lythgoe

Politics across Greater Manchester is dominated by the Labour Party.

With 25 out of 27 MPs and control over nine out of 10 borough councils, the party has a tight grip on town halls across the city-region. But recent political scandals and inter-party squabbles have raised question marks over who is really in control of our local councils.

Last year, party officials were sent to Tameside where the ruling Labour group was accused of 'unacceptable working practices' after another damning report into its children's services led to the council's chief executive quitting and a flurry of cabinet resignations.

Within weeks, Tameside council had a new leader who, alongside others, was put through a party-approved 'interview process'.

Months later, ousted ex-leader Ged Cooney warned of 'democracy dying' as he publicly criticised the national party's intervention.

But Tameside's was not the first town hall in Greater Manchester where the Labour Party saw fit to intervene in such a way.

Four out of our 10 councils currently have active campaign improvement boards (CIB), implemented by Labour Party headquarters.

On paper, these boards are teams made up of Labour MPs and councillors from elsewhere who are selected by the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) to help local activists prepare for election. Exactly what that help entails varies between each borough.

Some say they've gone too far, with party officials accused of being 'hostile' and 'bullying' the elected leaders of our local authorities.

And recent events have led some to ask who is really pulling the strings – the people we elect or the national party they belong to?

Stockport

(Image - Nub News)

The Labour Party introduced the concept of CIBs in 2022 with the 'primary purpose' said to be about helping 'Labour groups that require improvement and support to prepare them for future rounds of local government elections and the next general election.'

Later that year, the so-called 'Jabba the Hutt' scandal in Stockport, which saw a constituent compared to the grotesque villain from Star Wars in a WhatsApp group containing Labour councillors and employees of the local MP, led to a CIB being set up in the borough.

A Labour source within Stockport explained that the CIB felt those in the Local Government Committee, which helps select Labour candidates for upcoming elections, were actively deselecting candidates without good reason.

Cllr Matt Wynne was one Labour councillor deemed 'unfit' to stand for re-election in October 2022.

He quit the party as a result, but now serves as group leader of the Edgeley Community Association.

The general consensus in the Labour group in the area was that the CIB did the job and brought about positive change.

However, one Labour source involved in the process said this CIB was more 'light touch' than others elsewhere in the region.

An anonymous Labour source added: "Those coming in said 'you have to be democratic'.

"The CIB is still active, although they aren't here day to day. It's a way to stop shenanigans.

"I think it has been a good thing and it's not there to make decisions, like it has been alleged in Tameside. It's been positive."

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