Six candidates for the Greater Manchester mayoral by-election clashed in an impassioned hustings hosted by the Manchester Evening News at Chetham's School of Music. The event covered affordable housing, immigration, women's rights, and trans rights.
Green and Reform Unite Against Labour's Housing Record
Green Party candidate Geraldine Coggins criticised Reform UK over Nigel Farage receiving a £5 million donation from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne. “I think it’s surprising to hear the party that is paid for by crypto billionaires and other countries wants to be the spokesperson for local small businesses,” she said.
Much of the panel agreed that Labour had failed to level up all boroughs, with too much regeneration cash going to the city centre. Coggins said billions of taxpayers’ money had gone to developers who did not provide affordable housing. “All the money has been poured into the city centre and the outer places like Wigan, Rochdale, Oldham and Bolton have been left behind,” she said. She noted that 1 in 80 children in Greater Manchester were living in temporary accommodation. “And that is the reality of Labour’s legacy.” Coggins pledged to build 20,000 “new, genuinely affordable homes”.
Reform UK candidate Sian Astley agreed, saying Greater Manchester was a “fantastic region” but “people across the boroughs have looked at the shiny towers of Manchester and felt that those were unattainable”. She described the current system as a “postcode lottery”.
Conservative and Lib Dem Proposals
Conservative candidate Phil Eckersley attacked Labour’s record, saying “affordable housing has fallen by the wayside”. He proposed an orbital bus system to connect boroughs. Liberal Democrat Richard Kilpatrick said the region needs “150,000 affordable housing built yesterday” and suggested a co-operative model where rent payments help tenants buy property.
Restore Britain’s Marlon West highlighted empty council properties. Labour candidate Bev Craig admitted not enough social and affordable housing had been built but defended her record, saying “for the first time in 40 years we’re able to – in the city centre – now see developers contribute to social housing.”
Immigration Debate
Candidates discussed immigration and false information online. Astley said concerns came from people worried about housing, doctors, and schools, not from “nasty people or rampant racists”. She said the system was “broken”, citing 20,000 houses on the Greater Manchester Housing Register. Coggins attributed pressures to “15 years of Tory austerity”, not migration. Eckersley welcomed legal migrants but stressed affordable housing. Kilpatrick advocated for asylum seekers to work. West was jeered for calling for mass deportations and criticising HMOs.
Craig said she was “proud” of the region built by immigrants and urged politicians not to “pit one group against another”.
Trans Rights and Supreme Court Ruling
Candidates responded to last year’s Supreme Court ruling that sex in the Equality Act refers to biological sex. Coggins said she would “put women’s issues right at the heart” but stood “100 percent with our trans community”. Craig said she would “stand up for single sex spaces, like women’s refuges, but also not throw our trans communities under the bus”. Eckersley criticised Labour for delaying action, saying “biological male police officers are frisking women and girls” was unacceptable. West agreed with the ruling. Kilpatrick said he was “proud” his party elected the first openly trans councillor and disagreed with the ruling. Astley supported the ruling but called for compassion and investment in unisex toilets.
Mayoral Precept and Political Heroes
Several candidates said they would scrap the mayoral precept, which Burnham had raised by £25 for a typical home. Candidates named their political heroes: Astley chose suffragettes, Coggins picked Caroline Lucas, Craig cited Nye Bevan and Nelson Mandela, Eckersley named the Earl of Bridgwater, Kilpatrick chose his father, and West selected Rupert Lowe.
