Bev Craig launches manifesto for Greater Manchester mayoral campaign

Labour’s Greater Manchester mayoral candidate Bev Craig sought to define her leadership as she launched her manifesto on Tuesday, arguing she would use the powers of the mayoralty to make life “cheaper, safer and fairer” while pledging to deliver a “Greater Manchester for us.”

Speaking at the launch of her manifesto, ‘Delivering a Greater Manchester for Us’, Craig repeatedly drew on her own background and record in local government, telling supporters she knew “what it’s like to struggle” and promising to “fight for every resident in every borough” as she set out her vision for the city-region’s next chapter.

The room in Trafford was packed with Labour activists, MPs and councillors, including Salford mayor Paul Dennett and Manchester Rusholme MP Afzal Khan, as Craig set out her pitch to succeed Andy Burnham.

Before Craig took to the stage, residents from across Greater Manchester introduced the manifesto’s five central pledges, explaining why the policies mattered to them and their communities.

READ MORE: Who is Bev Craig, Labour’s candidate for Greater Manchester Mayor?

The pledges focused on making transport more affordable through a Bee Network fare freeze and expanded free travel for young people; improving opportunities for children and young people through measures including baby boxes, school support and training opportunities; delivering 50,000 council and genuinely affordable homes; restoring pride in town centres through investment in local businesses; and making communities safer through expanded neighbourhood policing and a new Neighbourhood Guarantee to tackle antisocial behaviour.

Taking to the stage, Craig framed the manifesto as both ambitious and deliverable, telling supporters she was offering “a promise and a plan”.

“A plan both radical and realistic – because I don’t believe in making promises you can’t deliver, and I have the track record to get it done,” she said.

“And a simple promise, I know what it’s like to struggle, to fight and I’ll fight for you – to make the lives better of every resident in every borough.”

Throughout her speech, Craig placed her own story and record at the centre of her pitch to voters, drawing on her background and her time leading Manchester City Council as evidence she could deliver change through the powers available to the mayor.

While she praised the progress made under Andy Burnham’s leadership, Craig presented her manifesto as the next chapter for Greater Manchester’s devolution journey, arguing that the focus now should be ensuring the benefits of the region’s growth are felt across every borough and community.

Among the new proposals highlighted during the launch were plans for a Gen Z Commission, a Community Ownership Fund and community banks.

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Asked about the detail behind the Community Ownership Fund, Craig said it would begin with £10m and sit within a wider Good Growth Fund, which she said could bring up to £2bn of investment into the city-region through sources including the combined authority’s own capital, pension fund investment and the National Wealth Bank.

Craig said the fund would put “cooperative values at the heart” of her manifesto by helping communities and community groups take stakes in businesses.

She pointed to HM Pasties, a Greater Manchester business which she said had approached the combined authority seeking investment with a social benefit, as an example of the type of organisation she wanted to support.

“I want to see more organisations like HM Pasties have access to institutional wealth that otherwise they would be closed off [from],” she said.

On her plans for a Gen Z Commission, Craig said it would be designed by and with young people rather than imposed on them by politicians.

“You don’t need some 41-year-old mayor telling 18 and 19-year-olds what life should look like,” she said.

Craig said the commission would involve recruiting young people to “roll up their sleeves and get involved”, with those involved helping set the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s strategy for 18 to 27-year-olds across the city-region.

The manifesto also commits Labour to freezing Bee Network bus and Metrolink fares beyond December, extending free travel to 16 to 18-year-olds and lifting the 09:30 restriction on concessionary travel for older and disabled passengers.

On housing, Craig pledged to deliver 50,000 new council and genuinely affordable homes, establish a commission on rent controls and support people sleeping rough into secure accommodation. She also promised a £20m Good Growth High Street Fund to support small businesses, bring empty units back into use and regenerate town centres across Greater Manchester.

Craig said her vision was to ensure devolution worked for ordinary people, promising to use the powers of the mayoralty to make life more affordable and create opportunities for residents across the city-region.

“We are a proud region, and now is our moment to build a Greater Manchester that fights for us, that works for us and creates a future… for all of us,” she said.

The speech ended with a standing ovation from supporters in the room, with Craig later greeting activists, signing copies of the manifesto and posing for photographs as Labour’s campaign continues ahead of polling day on July 30.

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