The leader of Oldham Council has announced she will step down, marking the potential end of 15 years of Labour control following a disastrous local election result for the party last week.

In the May 7 vote, Labour lost nine of the 12 seats it was defending, leaving the group with just 18 councillors. Reform UK gained 13 seats, propelling it from one of the smallest to the second-largest group on the council. The Oldham Group, an association of independents representing several of Oldham’s majority-Asian central wards, now holds 10 seats. The results mean the council’s political makeup has effectively been fractured in three directions, with no single party able to command a viable majority.

Council Leader Shah released a statement on Sunday, May 10, ruling out any working agreement with parties she accused of running “divisive and toxic campaigns”. She confirmed she would cease being leader on the morning of the annual council meeting, scheduled for May 20. “The result of the local elections in Oldham mirrors Labour’s losses nationally and leaves a council where no party is able to command a viable majority administration,” she said.

“While Labour remains marginally the largest single party, we have to take note that the results across the borough clearly showed support for the other parties. Both Reform, led by former Conservative Lewis Quidd, and The Oldham Group, led by former Conservative Kamran Ghafoor, gained seats and are now the second and third largest parties respectively.”

Shah thanked voters who returned three Labour councillors in Chadderton Central, Medlock Vale, and Werneth, but acknowledged the broader shift in support across the borough. She stressed that the Labour Group would not seek any coalition or supply agreement with groups that had run divisive campaigns, adding: “It is now for those parties to put forward proposals for how they intend to run Oldham Council, reflecting the mandate they have received from voters.”

With Labour stepping back from coalition talks, the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, and remaining six independent councillors will now need to decide whether to support Reform UK, The Oldham Group, or a Labour group under new leadership to form a working cabinet. Because of the political and personal divisions within the council, forming a stable long-term majority could prove difficult.

In her statement, Shah urged all parties to use the positions they have secured to draw a line under infighting and work to raise the bar for political conduct in the borough. “The council matters,” she said. “It spends hundreds of millions of pounds of public money every year, employs thousands of decent, hardworking people, and delivers critical services, including social care and children’s safeguarding, supporting some of the most vulnerable people in the borough.”

MP Jim McMahon confirmed Shah’s imminent departure, praising the local Labour leadership for attracting investment, regenerating the borough, and rebuilding local services. He noted that “politics can be unforgiving” and said he plans to work constructively with whoever forms an administration. The next steps for Oldham Council will unfold in the coming weeks as groups seek to secure the support needed to govern.