Wigan's 'weird' politics gets weirder as opposition parties disappear and independents emerge
manchestereveningnews.co.ukLast night, a major shake-up in Wigan's "weird" politics that emerged last year was cemented as Labour held onto their whopping 64-seat majority, while what remained of the Conservative opposition almost disappeared and was replaced by independent councillors standing on local issues.
Independents first made major headway into Wigan Council in 2023, following a shift in ward boundaries that caused every one of the council's 75 seats to be contested at once.
Whether this was an electoral blip was unclear until last night, when the independents managed to hold onto their seats, increase their turnout, and even win a seat in Ince, the ward where council leader David Molyneux is now outnumbered by independents, two-to-one.
There was some complexity to this picture though, with candidates who had stood for the Heritage Party and UKIP in 2023's local elections, but were standing as independents this time around, failing to win over the electorate.
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