A NEW poll shows 42 per cent of people in Bolton feel the Conservatives’ first year in control at the council “went well” and 39 per cent did not.

The survey of 329 Bolton residents was conducted by junior data scientists with links to the borough who are studying at the University of Warwick.

A fifth of respondents to the poll, which was open for one week, voted “don’t know” when asked how they feel the first year of Conservative control went.

This comes as Friday marks one year since the Conservatives took control of Bolton Council, ending four decades of Labour domination at the town hall.

But another poll on voting intention in the borough by the pair of students from Bolton puts Labour neck and neck with the Tories at 30 per cent.

The two students who are both from the Bolton area, Alex and Rob, have started publishing polling data online under the banner of “Bolton Elects”.

They said: “We have plans to expand the data we can publish including novel questions similar to a larger think tank.

“But we want to focus on Bolton seeing as it’s where we’re both from and also because of the political shift over the past few years.”

The duo recruited respondents according to age, race, relgion, voting history, earnings, what they do for a job, where they live and if they have children.

An algorithim picks people who match Bolton’s demographics to complete the survey.

They published a poll on voting intention last week with a sample size of 984.

It shows Labour and the Conservatives tied at top with 30 per cent each.

This comes after a poll the previous week put Labour three percentage points ahead of the Tories.

Other parties, which includes independent hyper-local parties in towns like Farnworth, Kearsley and Horwich, received 22 per cent of the votes.

The Lib Dems got 13 per cent of the vote and the Greens got five per cent.

Labour is still the largest party with 21 councillors, but the Tories, who have 19, reached a deal with other parties allowing them to keep control of the council.

The Lib Dems have seven councillors, Farnworth and Kearsley First four, Horwich and Blackrod First Independents two and UKIP two.

One Conservative councillor has been temporarily suspended from the party and there is one empty seat previously held by a Tory councillor who died.

There are currently three independent councillors at Bolton Council.