Labour’s Bev Craig has set out an ambitious plan in her bid to become the next mayor of Greater Manchester. Launching her manifesto at University Academy 92, near Old Trafford Cricket Ground, the Manchester City council leader said her campaign would focus on more affordable homes, opportunities for young people, expanding neighbourhood policing, and reviving the region’s high streets.
Personal Story and Values
“The hope of a better life isn’t just something you see other people having, but something you can have for yourself as well,” she told the audience. “So I stand before you with a promise and a plan. Both radical and realistic, because I’ve staked my career on not making promises that you can’t deliver.”
The council leader said she understood what it was like to struggle, recalling her own childhood growing up in Northern Ireland, when she thought “being surrounded by poverty, by addiction, by poor mental health” was normal. She said “our world fell apart” when her father got injured at work and was subsequently sacked. “Going from keeping your head above water to spiralling, to picking up the odd jobs that came along, with the debt and the hardship that came with it,” she said. “Trying your best and it never being enough. And having to ask your daughter to help her parents understand the life insurance policy, to see if your dad ending his life would free the family from debt.”
Devolution and Support
Oliver Coppard, Labour mayor of South Yorkshire, advocated for more devolution. He said it was "vital" to have the "right leaders that are driving that change forward". He added: “With those right leaders come the right values. And that's what Bev has. The right values, not just Labour values, but Greater Manchester values.”
Key Priorities in the Manifesto
The manifesto – ‘Delivering a Greater Manchester for Us’ – sets out a fully-costed plan built around key priorities. On transport, Coun Craig said she will freeze bus and Metrolink fares, as well as extending free travel to 11 to 18-year-olds, which will cost £11-16 million.
The Labour hopeful said there would be a ‘golden era of council housebuilding’, with 50,000 new and ‘genuinely affordable’ homes by 2039. Craig said at least 10,000 of those would be built or in the planning pipeline by 2028.
Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation
The Manchester City Council leader said she would make ending homelessness a central mission of her mayoralty, pointing to how her authority has eradicated the use of B&Bs as temporary accommodation for families. Coin Craig said she would expand the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, which provides emergency shelter and support to anyone sleeping rough or at imminent risk.
When he was the mayor, Burnham promised to end rough sleeping by 2020, which has not happened. Coin Craig was asked if she, like her predecessor Andy Burnham, would donate 15 percent of her salary to the Mayor of Greater Manchester's Homelessness Fund. She said she would make a donation without specifying exactly how much.
Figures from 2024 show that leaders in Greater Manchester were spending £75 million a year on temporary accommodation while only recovering 42 percent of those costs through housing benefit – a sign of growing financial strain on councils.
Renters’ Rights and High Streets
Craig also said she would create teams to enforce the new Renters’ Rights Act (RRA) to help people in the rental sector. The new legislation, which came into force in May, introduced one of the biggest shake-ups of the private rented sector. It has changed how landlords in England can regain possession of their properties, limits rent increases and strengthens tenants' rights.
Concerns have been raised that these changes could encourage landlords to sell up, thereby reducing the supply of privately rented homes and put pressure on local authorities to house them. Coun Craig was asked if Manchester City Council had a contingency plan to prevent more people needing temporary housing. She did not outline a plan but said more protection was needed for people from their landlords.
“What is true is that renters tell us that, historically, too often they've been too afraid of the landlord and hiking the rent or kicking them out,” she said, before praising how the RRA has abolished Section 21 evictions – meaning landlords will no longer be able to evict tenants without giving a valid reason. “We haven’t seen the evidence and I haven’t seen any signs over the last four to five months that giving renters protection mean there are less house for people to live.”
Craig also said her ‘pride in every town centre’ pledge would regenerate high streets across the 10 boroughs, with a new £20 million Good Growth High Street Fund, which will support small businesses and bring empty units back into use. She also promised more neighbourhood police officers on the streets to tackle antisocial behaviour.
Youth and Future
Coun Craig also said she would set up a special Gen Z commission “to let your young people co-design the world we’re creating, to give them a stake in our future”. She finished the speech by vowing to “fight for you every single day” to improve the lives of people across the region, adding: “Let’s show the world. Greater Manchester is leading the way for the years to come, but doing it differently.”
