Paul Dennett wins third term as city mayor

Labour's Paul Dennett has been re-elected for a third term as Salford's mayor.

Mr Dennett, who was first elected in the post in 2016, received 30,753 votes, almost three times as many as his nearest rival, Conservative Jillian Collinson, who got 10,930.

Mr Dennett said it was a "huge honour" to continue in the "most humbling and rewarding" job.

He added that the role was one he would "never take for granted".

The mayor is Salford's political, strategic and community leader and has overall responsibility for the delivery of all of the city council’s services.

Accepting his victory, Mr Dennett said he believed the "Westminster and Whitehall model" of governing was "clearly broken and detached from ordinary people's lives" and called for a general election.

"The Tories have been roundly rejected by the people in this country, losing nearly 500 council seats across 107 councils in these elections," he said.

"Both locally and nationally, it is clear that the Tories have fundamentally lost their way and it is clearly now time for a general election."

Following behind Mr Dennett and Ms Collinson, the Green Party's David Jones finished third in the election with 5,623 votes, while Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition's Sally Griffiths came fourth with 2,681.

The turnout was 25.89% with a total of 49,987 cast.

Mr Dennett's win meant he became the second Labour mayor in Greater Manchester to win a third term in the local elections, after Andy Burnham was confirmed as the regional leader earlier.

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