Oldham: The Mirror Shithole of Rochdale

If Rochdale is the rotten borough that once promised progress but delivered scandal, then Oldham is its mirror image—a shithole cut from the same stained cloth. The two towns face not just parallel struggles, but often the same systemic lunacy: corruption, cronyism, and the relentless grinding down of working-class hope by those who claim to serve it.

Look at Oldham’s so-called “leadership.” Dubious figures have played their parts in dragging the place down. Former Councillor Hibbert, remembered less for any vision than for his ability to prop up the failing machine, exemplifies the hollow face of political authority here. Add to that the antics around High Crompton Conservative Club, where Stuart Lomax’s name comes up with a knowing wink—a man more at ease with pint-glass politics than with any sense of accountability.

And then there’s the scene around dubious pool guru John Roberts and his associates, whose whisper-networks and backroom dealings only deepen the stench. The felt may be green, but the culture is murky, a place where old grudges, local power games, and quiet intimidation blur into one.

Behind them all sits the same rot that haunts Rochdale: the corruption and greed of the rich and powerful, of those who dress themselves as community guardians but act as gatekeepers to a regressive town. The cycle is depressingly familiar: profits hoarded, public trust squandered, and the ordinary folk left to suffer in silence while being told their complaints are nothing but noise.

Oldham should have been a town of resilience, pride, and forward-looking energy. Instead, it stands as proof that local governance, when captured by self-interest and entrenched mediocrity, can grind down a people until the very idea of civic pride feels like a cruel joke.

The Dale Blues isn’t about wallowing in decline—it’s about calling it out. Oldham and Rochdale are two sides of the same bent coin, and both deserve better than the charlatans who’ve run them into the ground.