Bev Craig victory speech in full

First of all, I’d like to thank the counting staff across Greater Manchester. It’s been a long day for you and it’s much, much appreciated. Thank you also to my fellow panellists.

But a special thank you has to go to the residents of Greater Manchester. To have trust placed in you is an honour. I’m honoured. I’m humbled. And I stand ready to serve the 3 million people that live across this fantastic city region. And I will serve every single one of them, every single day.

I never believed, as a girl growing up on a council estate, that one day I would have the chance to stand for the place that I love, the place in this world that I’m proud to call home, and to offer my service to make our city region better. Because Greater Manchester is special. We talk a lot about history.

We talk about the role that we played from the birth of the industrial revolution to the trade movement to Peterloo. From suffragettes, through to modern inventions, to splitting the atom, and the invention of modern computing. We’ve changed the world in many ways in the past.

READ MORE: Bev Craig wins Greater Manchester mayoralty in landslide over Reform UK

But Greater Manchester’s potential lies in its future. And when Westminster walked away from us, when we were struggling as a deindustrialised city region, it was the people in this place that began the journey to rebuild. And people often ask me, what is it that I feel makes Greater Manchester so special? And it’s our people and our communities.

And during this campaign, I’ve got to see that firsthand in every single corner of this city region. In every town and village, I find fantastic people doing incredible things against the odds every single day.

Rejecting the politics of hate and standing for neighbours, looking out for each other, the spirit of the place, that their neighbours give the final pound in their pocket to help their struggling friends, to do the right thing. But for too many people across our region, life is simply too hard. The generational belief that we had, that if you work hard and do the right thing, your life will be better, and the life of the community will be better, is something that many people just don’t feel at the minute.

And that’s the challenge that we in politics have to face as well. And it’s why I set myself a simple task, and I make that commitment to you today. That every single decision I take, as your Mayor of Greater Manchester, will pass the test of making your life better.

It will put more money in your pocket, and that was one of the reasons that I first pledged when I ran for free busses for 11 to 18 years, to put £500 in the pockets of families, and give a message to our young people, that they can be anything they want to be, and go anywhere they want to go. That everyone in our city deserves a good quality home they can afford, in safe neighbourhoods. And that everyone feels the benefits and success of this growth.

You have to feel it in your pocket, with good jobs, in every corner of our city region, and you’ve got to see it in your high streets, when you walk out the front door. Restoring pride into our c high streets and town centres. But it can’t just be about building the basic fundamentals of a good life. It’s about creating a good life.

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It’s letting people make decisions with optimism and hope for future. Things like spending time with friends and family and putting money in your pocket to plan for a holiday, to plan for your trips, and to build a good life for your kids. And that’s what we can do here in Great Manchester.

And the final thing I’ll say is that this is about the city region that we want to be. This is the Greater Manchester that we can be. And that’s the belief that we can build things to make our lives better.

And I’ll say this really clearly. To those that voted for me, thank you. To the Labour support that turned out, thank you.

To those of you that lent me your votes, thank you. And to those of you that didn’t vote for me, I will still be your Mayor. Because I will defend this city region with every bone in my body and I will fight for a better life for all of us.

So, the hard work begins. I’ve done it with a promise and a plan, and my promise to you is that I will leave this city better.

Because I will be a Mayor for everyone. We have to move away from divisive politics, that tries to pit neighbour against neighbour, and we will work together.

We’ll do it together, we’ll deliver it together, and we will build a Greater Manchester that works for all of us, that we’re all part of, where everyone feels welcome, and everyone has a chance to succeed.

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