Chorlton & Didsbury voted ….. Local elections May 2022

So yesterday we went to the polls.

Midday in the sun at the Polling Station, 2022

Once upon a time in Manchester the counts would be conducted on the night, and within a few hours the results would be known.

That immediacy added to the drama of the election.

After a long day of campaigning, a brief visit to the pub to thank all the volunteers, the candidate, agent and a small team would make their way into town and the Town Hall where the counts were undertaken.

And in some cases arriving at the same time as the ballot boxes.

The contents of those boxes would  then be delivered to the relevant "counting room", the ballot papers counted to verify that all had arrived,  followed by the serious business of counting each candidate's votes.

These would be put into bundles which would be stacked at the front, and as the count continued it would be possible to estimate who was winning.

The rest was the declaration of the winning candidate, some cheers, speeches from the winner and losers, and then into the night to celebrate or not at a venue booked in advance.

But now many local authorities choose to count the votes the following morning, when all, and most importantly those doing the counting are fresh.

All of which makes perfect sense but delays the results, and takes the edge off the drama while leaving  the candidate, a few more hours of waiting.

Still in the case of Manchester some of the results will be through by midday, unlike the remote parts of Scotland where we might have to wait days.

But nothing like that stretch of eternity in the 1945 General Election when the results of the "service votes" held in far away theatres of war took weeks to trickle home.

So, this blog story has come to you later in the day, courtesy of the Elections Office at the Town Hall and the Manchester Evening News.*

Leaving me just to reflect that turn out in the 4 seats was higher than in other parts of the city, with Chorlton on 41.21%, Chorlton Park on 36.73% , Didsbury East, 44.61% and Didsbury West at 44.61%.

And at the Manchester City Councils, Election site, you can trawl past local, national and European results, and for those even more nerdy there the election records on the Guardian newspaper site right back into the 19th century.

The Guardian results along with the Guardian and Manchester Guardian are available online from Manchester Public Libraries.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; Polling Stations, May 5th 2022, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Local Election Results, Manchester City Council, https://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500329/elections/4981/the_next_election/3