Why Rochdale is the only Greater Manchester borough with an election in 2025

The town will hold a council by-election following the resignation of Heywood and Middleton North MP Elsie Blundell

Next month, thousands people up and down the country will head to polling stations to vote in ward representatives at the local elections.

In Runcorn and Helsby, voters will get to pick a new MP following the resignation of Mike Amesbury.

Unlike most areas across Greater Manchester, Rochdale is the only borough that will go to the polls.

Despite 2025 being a ‘fallow year’ for metropolitan boroughs in the region, the resignation of Elsie Blundell as Balderstone and Kirkholt councillor has triggered a by-election.

After returning from maternity leave last month, the MP for Heywood and Middleton North steped down as councillor to focus on her new Parliamentary job.

The Balderstone and Kirkholt ward is currently represented by councillors Danny Meredith and Philip Massey. Polls will open on Thursday, May 1 to decide who will take the third vacant council seat.

Six candidates representing Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems, Workers, Reform, the Greens as well as an independent candidate are in the running.

It means those in the Balderstone and Kirkholt ward will be the only people going to the polls across Greater Manchester in May.

The next local elections in Rochdale are set to take place in May 2026. That's because 60 councillors are elected for staggered terms, with elections in three years of every four.

The remaining year is called a ‘fallow year’, when no elections take place.