Tameside election puts 19 council seats before voters
Voters in tameside took part in the 2026 local elections for 19 of 57 seats on Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. Polls closed at 10pm on Thursday, May 7, and the count was due overnight, with results from Friday, May 8, at 3am.
19 seats across Tameside
One councillor was elected in each ward, with seats contested in Ashton Hurst, Ashton St Michael's, Ashton Waterloo, Audenshaw, Denton North East, Denton South, Denton West, Droylsden East, Droylsden West, Dukinfield, Dukinfield Stalybridge, Hyde Godley, Hyde Newton, Hyde Werneth, Longdendale, Mossley, St Peter's, Stalybridge North and Stalybridge South. The contest covered a third of the council, and elections in Tameside take place three out of every four years.
Before the vote, Labour held 38 seats and controlled the metropolitan borough council. That meant the 19 seats on the ballot carried the main route for any change in the council’s balance after the count.
Tameside council duties
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council is responsible for education, social care, highways, planning and recycling. For residents, the outcome of these elections feeds directly into the council chamber that makes decisions on those services, along with the ward councillors elected to represent each area.
The Tameside vote took place alongside a wider set of local elections in England, where more than 5,000 council seats were contested across 136 local authorities. Mayoral elections also took place in six areas.
May 8 count
The overnight count after Thursday’s close of polls put the focus on the first results due from Friday, May 8, at 3am. Tameside residents in the 19 wards named in the ballot were waiting for the first sign of how the council’s 57-seat makeup would look after the vote.
