‘Nationwide, I’d Probably Think Twice’: What’s on Voters’ Minds in Key Target City?

If Sir Keir Starmer has an electoral mountain to climb to become prime minister in the next general election, Bury is at the foot of that fight.

Labor holds a narrow majority in the local council, but the party lost the Bury North and Bury South parliamentary constituencies in 2019 when Boris Johnson’s Conservatives unseated the party in a swath of its former strongholds.

His electoral complexion changed again when Bury South MP Christian Wakeford defected from the Tories to Labor at the beginning of this year.

Politics Hub: Follow local election results as they come in

The stakes are high this time around: he loses share of the vote compared to the 2018 local election and some will say Sir Keir has fallen at the first hurdle in the race for Downing Street; make progress, and the prospect of restoring both parliamentary seats in the next general election will appear to be within his grasp.

Among voters (who were able to vote for multiple candidates) on local election day, it was clear that national issues often figured prominently.

Jennifer Kinloch, 78 – Voted Labor

We have always voted Labour, it is tradition. I can’t say I’m excited about them at the moment, but there’s no way I’d vote Conservative, especially Boris Johnson.

I know these are supposed to be local issues, but we are absolutely sick of him and the government he leads.

It wouldn’t have happened with Theresa May, it wouldn’t have happened with David Cameron, so the sooner she’s gone, the better.

I think he makes the laughing stock of the whole country.

Harry Kinloch, 82 – Voted Labor

I think the only chance we have to get this country back to some sort of norm and where it could be is to try and get a decent leader.

I think if people vote for a clown, they get a clown. I think Keir Starmer is the right person to help us through it and get us back to where we were years ago.

Colin Hunter, 62 – Voted Conservative

Council elections are about local issues: at the national level, I would probably think twice.

With Boris as a figurehead, he’d probably have to think again.

But this time it’s only local and I’m not happy with the introduction of the Clean Air Zone and the roads are an absolute disgrace. I probably live in one of the worst and that’s where I want to see change.

If it were a general election I would have a serious problem voting Conservative with the national issues of the cost of living crisis, partygate and the war in Ukraine in the back of my mind.

Krysia Milejski, 23 – Voted Labor/Green Party

I’m a young queer person just out of college and conservatives don’t really seem that interested in looking out for trans rights or the rights of many minority groups.

And that’s very discouraging for a young person because you don’t just want financial stability from your country. You also want social stability, and you can’t help but feel a bit outcast and like they don’t care.

So I prefer to vote for groups that I feel are going to take care of the community and the financial state of the country.

I think partygate upset a lot of people, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people thought of that when they voted today.

Stephen Turner, 68 – Mixed Vote

My main concern is just local issues – whatever is in the manifest for local issues, that’s what I did.

If we had to vote for a new prime minister, maybe I would vote differently and not for the Conservatives.

We all know what is happening at the national level, but in this case I have to see who deals with local problems.

David Royal, 76 – Voted Green

I don’t think either of the two main parties, at the national level, is addressing the problems of this country.

I am worried about the potholes, but they are neither here nor there of what is happening.

We have a war in Ukraine that I am not happy with the way it has been handled, I am not happy with the situation of the national health service, I am not happy with COVID.

Those are national issues for me and that’s why I voted Green because I think neither of the two main parties at the moment is ready to tackle the main issues.

I think most people will vote with local issues in mind today. But personally, I need to give a message to those two main parties.

If it was a general election today it would have turned green today too and that just goes to show how frustrated I am.

Johnson tells lies, I can’t trust him right now and he’s not trustworthy. Starmer isn’t assertive enough to pin it down, so neither of these two leaders makes me happy.

Sharon, 49 – Voted Conservative

I have never voted Labor in my life and I was not going to change this time. The green belt issue in Bury and Labor’s lack of support for Bury Football Club were a priority for me, which is why I voted Conservative.

In fact, I’m a huge fan of Boris, and I don’t think I’m the only one who has broken the rules during the pandemic, they all pee in the same pot. It doesn’t stop me from not wanting to vote Conservative.

I worry that people think too much about partygate when they go out to vote and don’t really look at their policies and what local Conservatives are doing.

Sandra Gill – Voted Conservative

I think Boris is a good guy, even though he has been abused and trampled, I like him, his views and what he has done.

The group that’s in right now has done the best they can considering the circumstances, right now the other parties are deliberately trying to find dirt to get him out and it’s petty and I don’t think Boris is petty so I support him. .

I think a lot of the party stuff was pretty insignificant. He worked with those people, he was in an office with them every day and he was at a party with those same people and he is absolutely petty.

It worries me that people won’t vote Conservative today because of that. I hope most people think like me, there are so many other things going on in the world and this is insignificant.

Donald Gill – Voted Conservative

Even on local issues, the Conservatives asked for our opinion. They sent us a form to fill out about the potholes, about the police, about the dirty streets to ask for our opinion and when they are going to fix it.

Labor hasn’t sent anything, we don’t know what they’re going to do, that really convinced us.