Bev Craig officially launched her campaign to become Greater Manchester's next mayor on Friday, with the endorsement of outgoing mayor Andy Burnham at Radcliffe Football Club. The event drew 200 Labour supporters, including notable figures like Salford Mayor Paul Dennett, Wigan council leader Nazia Rehman, and Coronation Street actress Jennie McAlpine, who played Fiz.
Familiar Atmosphere, New Candidate
The launch echoed Burnham's previous campaign events, with the same "For Us" slogan on the van and Burnham's insistence on "place, not party." Deputy Prime Minister Lucy Powell warmed up the crowd, praising Craig as "the most exceptional political leader of her generation" and citing her achievements, such as investing in children's services and securing an underground station at Manchester Piccadilly.
Angela Rayner, MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, attended but did not speak, amid speculation about her potential Labour leadership bid. Burnham, who had just returned from Westminster, joked about being back in his "Manchester clothes," wearing a white t-shirt instead of his trademark dark one.
Craig's Vision: Evolution, Not Revolution
Craig emphasized continuity, saying, "For me it’s about evolution." She compared Burnham to a football captain and stressed that Greater Manchester is a "team effort." Her flagship policy is expanding the Our Pass scheme, which currently provides free bus travel and discounted tram journeys to 16-to-18-year-olds and care leavers up to age 25, to all secondary school pupils across the ten boroughs. The existing scheme saves families roughly £500 per teenager annually, and the expansion could save households with multiple school-aged children thousands of pounds.
"I've heard from parents who are struggling to cover the costs of getting about, and this will put more money in the pockets of thousands of hard-working families," Craig told the crowd. She also pledged to freeze fares, expand bus routes, and introduce night buses, all part of a fully costed plan for the Bee Network.
Political Context and Challenges
Craig acknowledged the Labour Party's recent electoral setbacks, including losing 24 seats on Manchester City Council to Reform UK and the Green Party, and Reform winning all council seats in Wigan. "The reality is… Labour nationally had to hear some hard messages after those local elections," she admitted. However, she insisted that "what isn’t broken is the type of politics that we try to do and create in Greater Manchester."
Fresh polling by FocalData for Hope Not Hate suggests Labour and Reform UK are separated by just three points, making the election one of the most fiercely contested in the city-region's history. Craig faces the challenge of stepping out of Burnham's shadow while maintaining his coalition of support. Burnham, who won the Makerfield by-election with a resounding majority, endorsed Craig's message of unity: "When we fragment, we become less. That has never been the Greater Manchester way. It's place first, not party first."
The election is scheduled for July 30, and Craig's campaign will test whether she can turn a familiar script into her own success story.
