the council. After the election the Labour leader of the council Peter Smith argued that "They are essentially a negative party, good at coming up with issues to campaign on, but not very good at finding solutions." 2005 general election Franzen stood in Makerfield against Ian McCartney, deputy chairman of the Labour Party, and the party stood three other candidates. Franzen received 2,769 votes (7.8%). Ian Franzen stood in Leigh, receiving 2,189 votes (6.0%). Former Labour council leader Mike Hughes received 573 votes in Warrington North (1.4%). 2006 local election The CAP lost three seats in Makerfield to Labour. 2007 local election The party held two seats and gained one from Community Performance First, but lost two seats to Labour. They stood four candidates in St. Helens, and two in Salford. 2008 local election The party held two seats in Makerfield, but lost Peter Franzen's seat in Golbourne and Lowton West to Labour by 76 votes, and another seat to the Conservatives, resulting in their Democratic Alliance group losing its status as the official opposition group. The Labour Party made a complaint to the police about a YouTube video posted by one of the CAP councillors, Ed Houlton, about a former Labour mayor the day before the May elections, but no charges were brought. In Salford's Irlam ward, their candidate Rick Houlton unseated Roger Jones, the Labour chairman of the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority. The CAP opposed the congestion charge for Manchester that was proposed by Jones. Peel Holdings, a Manchester property company, commissioned a market research company to call people in Irlam ward about the congestion charge plan in November 2007. In January 2008, Peel met with the Liberal Democrats and Community Action Party to discuss how they could help them defeat councillors who were backing the congestion charge. A police investigation was launched over a possible breach of the Representation of the People Act 1983, but the Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient evidence. Houlton was criticised for his low council meeting attendance, which he said was due to working nights. Split and defections The Community Performance First Party was registered with the Electoral Commission in 2006 by three CAP councillors ahead of the local elections, who said that they would still stand as CAP candidates. They were expelled from the party in April 2006, less than a month before the local elections, and the CAP