Our Story
Our History
For more than 30 years, Edgeley had been represented under the stewardship of the late Councillor Sheila Bailey and her colleagues, a period residents still speak of with respect. By the early 2020s, residents felt that legacy had given way to a local Labour Party that had ceased to represent Edgeley's best interests. The deselection of respected, hard-working Councillor Matt Wynne was seen by many as proof of the problem: Edgeley was being treated as a safe seat, used to promote a national agenda rather than served on its own terms.
That frustration is what brought the Edgeley Community Association together. It was constituted in December 2022, with a Committee formed by a number of Edgeley residents and led by Independent Councillor Matt Wynne, as a community forum with local focus, bringing Edgeley's community and faith groups together around the priorities residents set themselves.
The inaugural public meeting
On 16th January 2023, the newly formed Committee wrote to Edgeley residents inviting them to the ECA's first Public Meeting, held at The Alexandra on Northgate Road on 6th February 2023. The letter set out the priorities residents had already enshrined in the ECA's constitution at that initial formation meeting: treasured greenspaces, public transport infrastructure, promoting local history, culture and arts, improving the public realm, and addressing housing issues across private, social and council stock.
The ECA's invitation to its inaugural Public Meeting, signed by then Secretary Leah Taylor on behalf of the Committee.
The letter also confirmed the Committee's intention to put forward candidates at the local elections that May, naming three provisionally agreed candidates: Asa Caton, Leah Taylor, and sitting Independent Councillor Matt Wynne.
Making history in May 2023
Just five months after forming, the Edgeley Community Association contested the local elections in Stockport for the first time, and won. ECA candidates took all three Edgeley Ward seats from Labour, an extraordinary result for a brand new, independent community party and one of the biggest upsets of that year's local elections in Stockport.
Candidates campaigned on a clear six-point plan built around the issues residents told us mattered most, not national politics. It's stayed at the heart of everything we've done since.
Councillors Matt Wynne, Leah Taylor and Asa Caton, the original three ECA councillors elected in May 2023.
It was a result that gave Edgeley something it hadn't had before: three independent voices on Stockport Council, accountable only to residents rather than a national party whip.
Leah has since stood down from the council. She was replaced by Jess Meller, who was elected with 46.3% of the vote, well ahead of the next placed candidate, a strong endorsement of the ECA's continued support in Edgeley.
Three years on, and just getting started
Edgeley still has three independent voices on Stockport Council, accountable to residents rather than a party whip. Public meetings are still held every six weeks, open to anyone with an issue to raise, and the community fund (paid for entirely by ECA members) keeps backing the local causes residents choose themselves.
The six-point plan candidates campaigned on back in 2023 is still the plan today: the yardstick every decision gets measured against. And as 2026's commanding by-election result showed, Edgeley's appetite for independent, accountable representation hasn't faded one bit.
That's where you come in. Whether it's coming along to a public meeting, joining as a member, or lending a hand at the next community event. Edgeley's story is still being written, and there's a place in it for you.