Who is the first elected Greater Manchester councillor for Reform UK

Last month Allan Hopwood shocked the city-region after becoming the first Reform politician to be elected in Greater Manchester.

He stormed to victory at the by-election, claiming the vacant Longdendale seat on Tameside Council. He stood proudly for pictures in his army uniform and beret after winning 911 of the 1,955 votes cast – 422 more than second placed Labour.

But there is much more to Coun Hopwood than being just an ex-soldier.

Following his two stints with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, between 1985 and 1992 – he has spent time in waste management, haulage, engineering and even acting.

Although the 57-year-old has never had leading roles, he has featured in hit TV shows such as Shameless and Peaky Blinders as background characters. He has since stopped his acting career, believing his politics as a Reform UK member prevented him from getting parts.

“Acting politics doesn’t align with mine,” Coun Hopwood told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. “My views mean I can’t get an acting job.

“I’m just not a fan of the woke ideology in the acting world.”

The self-employed motor technician has been in the Reform Party for two years. He described himself as ‘politically homeless’ for a long time, until he came across Nigel Farage’s party.

Coun Hopwood believes the two ‘main parties’, Labour and Conservatives, are pandering to globalists and pushing a woke narrative.

Coun Hopwood added: “People realise that no matter who they are voting for, they will be the same as they had before. People need something they can get on board with and someone they can believe in.

“We should put our country first before we start looking after other countries, that is my personal belief. I think Reform has the British public’s best interests at heart.”

As a staunch Brexiteer, the political party’s stance on immigration policy was the thing that enticed him to join. But it’s local politics and the interests of his fellow Longdendale residents that got him to stick around.

Coun Hopwood believes immigration is ‘necessary’ for society to function, but says illegal immigration should be treated as illegal, like any other crime.

“We’re not anti-immigration, we’re anti-illegal immigration,” Coun Hopwood stressed. “When it’s labelled illegal it shouldn’t be happening.

“There are a lot of areas in Tameside that have impacts where people are paying council tax – going to work every morning, struggling to make ends meet – to fund dealing with this issue.”

He added that the council has to spend millions every year dealing with more people coming into the borough in need of emergency accommodation and welfare support.

The surge of Reform in Greater Manchester

The Longdendale councillor has lived in the area he represents since he was a child, growing up on a farm. His job means he is often fixing tractor engines for farmers, but now he wants to fix problems for constituents as a politician.

He is confident that Greater Manchester will soon see a wave of Reform councillors and MPs coming in, stating after his landmark victory he will be ‘the first of many’. That confidence was valid as he is no longer the only Reform politician in Greater Manchester following Jordan Tarrant-Short’s victory at the Balderstone and Kirkholt council by-election in Rochdale.

On the same night (May 1) Reform’s Sarah Pochin clinched victory in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election this week. She won the seat of former MP Mike Amesbury from Labour by six votes, one of the closest parliamentary votes ever.

This recent success is not completely out the blue though, with the party coming in second place in the constituency at the last General Election.

Reform was also runner-up in the majority of Greater Manchester constituencies after polling day on July 4, 2024. Nigel Farage’s party took four seats in Parliament in total.

Commenting on Reform’s surge in popularity, Coun Hopwood said: “I don’t think it is a protest vote. I think the Tories got voted out at the General Election, I wouldn’t say Labour got voted in.

“Now they’re making the same mistakes the Tories made – pandering to globalists.

“Reform is not about to bend the knee, we have our own agenda. We want Britain first.

“I think that it is time for change.”

He went on to say how he feels Reform is not a far-right organisation, as it has been accused, but a party of ‘common sense’. He regards himself as a moderate person and not aligned with far-right ideals.

Coun Hopwood explained that the majority of MPs in the House of Commons have lost touch with the regular person on the street. He wants more working people in parliament rather than just having university-educated career politicians.

First focuses as councillor

Looking ahead to his first few months in office as Longdendale ward representative, Coun Hopwood plans to improve communication between locals and the council. Plus he will be keeping a keen eye on Tameside Council’s finances.

“I am very interested in the finances of the council,” he said. “My concern is not about where the money is coming into the council, but where it’s going out.”

The former soldier wants to see more responsible spending by the local authority and better benefits for the tax payer. He praised the recent decision by town hall bosses to offer two hours of free parking to make it easier and more convenient for people to visit and shop in the borough’s town centres.

Coun Hopwood believes pressure from his party during the election is what is sparking these decisions by the Labour-run council. However, the parking review has been on the cards for months, with decisions on the matter being made before Coun Hopwood was elected.

Speaking specifically on the parking review claim, Coun Eleanor Wills, leader of Tameside Council, said: “This was an original priority for me upon my appointment as leader. I recognised the current offer was not reflective of the needs of people in Tameside or our priorities for growth and town centre regeneration.

“As previous cabinet member for health eradicating barriers to accessing good health services has always been a priority, this also needed to be reflected in our parking offer. The parking consultation was announced last year with a clear commitment to change and reflecting the views of the residents this was ahead of any by elections being called.”

On the night Coun Hopwood was elected in the Hattersley Hub, the Labour leader was present for the disappointing result.

Coun Wills said: “I think there are quite a few factors for people across Tameside at the moment that are dictating how they vote in elections. A lot has changed nationally, and locally we’ve been through a bit of a tumultuous period.

“People did not come out, we’ve had a very low turnout (20.12 per cent) for this by-election. I’m just really disappointed for Longdendale really because Francesca Coates would’ve been an amazing councillor.

“We need to help people, recognise what we’re doing, and listen to local people. I don’t feel this particular result means we have to look at what Reform are doing and think ‘they’re the marker’.”