Burnham enters one-horse race for Greater Manchester mayor

Andy Burnham MP has been selected as the Labour nominee for the role of Greater Manchester mayor, beating interim mayor Tony Lloyd and MP for Bury South, Ivan Lewis.

The public election will take place in May 2017. As yet, no other candidates have declared they will stand against the Labour candidate. Burnham is MP for Leigh and shadow home secretary, and if he becomes mayor is expected to step down from his position in parliament.

The creation of a directly elected mayor for Greater Manchester was agreed as part of the devolution deal agreed with then Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in 2014. The mayor will lead the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and will have a vote on policymaking and decisions over planning, housing and transport alongside the other 10 GM local authorities.

The turnout was 7,564, or 65.3% of the local Labour party membership. Burnham gained 3,792 or 50.1% of the vote, followed by Lloyd on 2,163 and Lewis with 1,472.

Many of the most important decisions such as on the emerging statutory spatial framework – the powerful planning blueprint which will set housing targets and define development boundaries – will require a unanimous 11 votes in order to be passed.

As part of his campaign, Burnham promised to purchase run-down houses using money from the £300m Greater Manchester housing fund, and then offer them to tenants as part of a rent-to-own scheme.

In his acceptance speech for the candidacy today, Burnham said he would “bring forward real answers to our housing crisis”.

Tony Lloyd was elected interim mayor in June last year, with no formal powers to vote at board meetings.

The Labour candidate for the Liverpool City Region is due to be announced tomorrow.

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Can’t we have him for Liverpool instead? Please?

By Bob Dawson

Better than the two alternatives. At least they have heard of him outside Ancoats and Prestwich. I wish that Professor Brian Cox would stand as an Independent. Because, ‘Things can only get better’ with him in charge.

By Elephant

Great Liverpudlian)

By ROB

He’s from Aintree originally (which is Sefton not Liverpool), brought up in Culcheth, and went to school in Newton-le-Willows.

Full-on Wool, not a scouser.

Makes sense as a GM leader, will probably do a good job.

By zebith

He is better suited to that small fishing port down the East Lancs with it’s airstrip and Beatles tours,although he represents Leigh which is in GM.The choice was pretty uninspiring though wasn’t it.Who will the Tories put up?

By Elephant

Fishing?

Enough with the rivalry. They’re different types of city.

By zebith

Agree Zebith, Liverpool is the smaller inferior type of city.

By Brian

Yawn.

Manchester: big, connected, prosperous, jobs, anytown.

Liverpool: small, niche, tourism, history, character.

One isn’t better than the other. They are different.

P.S. if you’re still travelling between the two via the East Lancs, may I suggest trying the M62 instead.

By zebith

••••••what now for Pro-Israel uber Blairite Ivan Lewis, already sacked by Corbyn as Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, he’d better be prepared for several years as a nobody on the backbenches. One thing going for him is that even if Corbyn is LP leader at the next General Election & Labour are slaughtered, Lewis will still win in Bury South because he’s got Bury South in his pocket, bolstered by a 1st class local Party machinery and overwhelming support amongst poorer working class/ Benefits people in areas like Radcliffe and also the Jewish community who make up around 9.5% of the constituency electorate. In addition, he’s harnessed great relations (and therefore coverage) with the local press.

By Anthony Fallon

Aintree is in Liverpool
In regards to Manchester it’s all self proclaimed rubbish the city is a tip.

By ROB

People from Mnachester i have always found very annoying, they think becuase they have a tram they are the tram it make them the new Barcelona???? no it does not Liverpool and London are the most iconic cities in the Uk.
back of a fridge.

By ROB

People from Mnachester i have always found very annoying, they think becuase they have a tram they are the new Barcelona???? no it does not, it’s very laughable, Liverpool and London are the most iconic cities in the Uk.
Back of a fridge come to mind.
At least Liverpool is on the map …dream on and wake up.

By ROB

Aintree isn’t in Liverpool, its in Sefton.

As for Manchester, agree with the “tip” comment, in that the city centre is visually unappealing with limited focal points and public spaces. A high proportion of the wider city is extremely deprived and run-down, and the more attractive bits are comparatively small and expensive (comparing these to their Liverpool equivalents). However, Manchester’s economic success compared to Liverpool cannot be denied.

As I said, the two cities are different in nature; whether one is “better” than the other is a matter of personal preference.

By zebith

#because #Madchester

By ROB

The only people that put the great city of Liverpool down are all that riff raff from that landlocked cheap mill town down the M62

By ROB

You can’t polish a t*rd

By CARLY

Don’t be so sure of Lewis winning Bury South. It isn’t a poor constituency and the Tories could take that seat with the right candidate. His majority was reduced in 2015 and it was Tory up until 1997. If the boundaries are redrawn before the next election and the poorer areas of Radcliffe are put into Bolton South, Bury South could become a marginal.

By Elephant

A high level of analysis and insight in these comments. Well done.

By Lee

That’s very bitchy for you Elephant….
HIs parents were obviously Scouse but he doesn’t have much of the Scouse charisma, so no, better suited to GM.

By Alfie

And Aintree, or the Old Roan, are as much Liverpool as Old Swan. I was brought up in Sefton, we’re still Liverpudlians. Just because Bootle fought off formal incorporation into the city 1868 doesn’t make all the areas that were lumped into Sefton in the 1970s any less Liverpool.

By Alfie

Oh Elephant, get a life please. We’re not talking who has the best and starting the Liverpool Manchester who is best silly banter!

By Mary Smiley

It does, because, as you point out, they’re in Sefton, not in Liverpool.

Do Bootle wools want to be part of Liverpool anyway? Burnham seems to choose to be Scouse or Manc depending on what suits him at the time.

By zebith

Scouse charisma? The only people in the UK who think Scousers are charismatic are Scousers,in the same way they think the Beatles changed the world.Maybe they did,but they changed the world from Surrey and Buckinghamshire,once they started earning money.There is a lot to be done in both cities and perhaps we can start working as a team for once.London is laughing at us all.Liverpool,Manchester,Birmingham, Leeds,Sheffield,as we backbite about who has the best town hall.I suppose I am equally guilty of this pathetic banter.Liverpool has great architecture. Manchester has a modern progressive outlook.London has both.

By Elephant

Andy was born in Liverpool City Region and wil be running Manchester and another Liverpudlian will be running the Liverpool City Region ..so thats good for me

By Carhy

“London” isn’t laughing at anybody; I don’t think “London” gives a sh*t about two srubby backwater northern cities. London is a different type of city again, and much of its success is from drawing in talent from elsewhere. Manchester appears to be trying to go the same way; Liverpool appears to prefer trying to “look after its own”.

Different cities, different strategies.

Personally, you can’t beat a river view, with history and lots of green space, and I don’t like being landlocked. For some, Manchester’s success is worth putting up with this for. Each to their own, let it lie.

By zebith

When is Cheetham Hill Road going to be made into a boulevard instead of the litter bin it now is; or a large part of the inner ring road for that matter?

By Tony Heyes

I don’t see Manchester as landlocked, rather ‘in the centre of the action’ yet being on the doorstep of the spectacular Peak District and the less soectacular Cheshire plains. In any case the wide open spaces of the old docks provide a sense of connection to the sea and the wider world even if they feel a little disjointed from the centre at the moment.

I do enjoy a trip to Liverpool – you feel you can breathe there and I love its maritime history. But it does feel like a trip to the end of a pier to me, picturesque in parts (although the bulk of the city centre around St Johns is truly horrible), windy, quiet and faintly depressing. Each to their own though.

In any case, petty city rivalries have to be a thing of the past if we are to compete and it’s incumbent upon Burnham to be a advocate not just for GM but the wider north.

By Puddled

There wouldn’t be so many successful Scouse entertainers if no one was interested in them Elephant…. I know they’re not everyone’s cup of tea, but we believe in Liverpool and many of us love living here, ever though we could live anywhere; that’s a lot to be said for a place!

By Alfie

Why don’t you leave out the insults then Puddled if you want to put aside petty rivalries….

By Alfie

So Zebith Liverpools got history and character and I presume your saying Manchester hasn’t – if so , your either very naïve or ignorant. Liverpool’s history and its foundation began in the 1700’s with the slave trade – I think Manchester can beat that.

By phildered

From my experience both visiting Liverpool and Manchester , I think Liverpool is a much nicer place to visit and a better quality of life ..tatty office blocks and a unreliable tatty tram service does not make a city special ,I don’t really get the fuss about Manchester ? I think it’s just bonkers self proclaimed rubbish.

By Carhy

Someone needs to check history A mill town like Manchester would not exist only for Liverpool,again your deluded.

By Carhy

Liverpool City Region blows Madchester out of the water .

By Carhy

Throughout the industrial revolution, Liverpool became the world’s leading city for cotton production, as well as continuing to experience a boom in its other industries – including slavery. Because of this its population grew quite rapidly from 6,000 to over 80,000. With a large population and thriving industries, it was time to make sure that Liverpool could be swiftly connected with the rest of the country’s powerful metropolises. Firstly, in 1721, developers linked Liverpool to Manchester by canal, adding links to Leeds and St. Helens in the following years. In 1830, Liverpool showed how ahead-of-its-time it was by linking itself to Manchester by railway, with the world’s first inter-city rail link. Years of building on its structures, industries and communities followed, and in 1880 it was granted official city status.

By Carhy

1. The city of Liverpool was created in 1207 when King John granted a Royal Charter which was written in Latin. Liverpool was once the “Second City of Empire”, eclipsing even London for commerce at times.

2. Liverpool holds the Guinness Book of Records title for being the Capital of Pop. More artists with a Liverpool origin have had a number one hit than from any other location. And of course, Liverpudlian legends The Beatles changed the face of popular music.

3. Liverpool is the most successful footballing city in England, home to both Liverpool and Everton. It has won 27 League championships, four European Cups, three Uefa Cups, one Cup Winners cup, 11 FA Cups, and six League Cups.

4. Liverpool’s Walker Art Gallery is the national gallery of the North and houses one of the best collections of European art outside London.

5. Liverpool has the largest collection of Grade II-listed buildings outside London. The city has 2,500 listed buildings and 250 public monuments.

By Dave

6. Liverpool’s three graces – the Liver, the Cunard and the Port of Liverpool buildings – are to be joined by a fourth. Designed by Will Alsop, the Cloud is a futuristic, three-tiered structure that will be home to offices, a hotel and community facilities.

7. Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral is the largest cathedral in Britain and the fifth largest in the world. It was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott in 1904. The city has a second cathedral – the Metropolitan Cathedral, which was designed by Frederick Gibberd after the Second World War.

8. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the first successful passenger-carrying railway in the world. Trials for Stephenson’s Rocket were carried out at Rainhill in 1829.

9. Liverpool has a thriving film industry. Films that shot there include The Hunt For Red October, The 51st State, The Parole Officer and Letter To Brezhnev. The city was used as a location for more than 140 films last year and has doubled for Moscow, Dublin, Paris and even Venice.

10. Scouse is a type of stew. It was eaten by Liverpudlians living in poverty before the 1900s. Ingredients include lamb or beef, cabbage, carrot, potatoes and onion.

By Dave

Let’s be honest, Manchester’s history is as a great industrial city, not a Roman city, Liverpool’s is as a great commercial city, the second city in the Empire.
It didn’t begin with the slave trade, although that is indeed a shameful period, it began with Cheshire salt; trade with Ireland and the Americas, pre-1700 and pre slave trade (Liverpool came late to that); and with inland navigations promoted and financed from Liverpool – like the later railways including the Liverpool – Manchester.
Manchester was Cottonopolis and that is interesting and its rich legacy of industrial warehouses bear witness. Liverpool’s great port left more listed buildings than any other city outside London, and a waterfront on a par with the best in the world – not to mention the listed parks which are the finest in England according to English Heritage. So, no contest in terms of which city left the greatest legacy for the future, and I would say which city has the greater untapped potential today.

By Alfie

Manchester 1853

By Dave

Dave, cut and paste don’t really do it…
The Cloud didn’t happen, we got Mann Island, home to RIBA North, and some apartments looking onto a beautiful atrium and with views of one of the world’s great waterfronts… and the possible HQ of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

By Alfie

Liverpool 1190 that’s some history ))

By Dave

It was you Alfie making remarks about Manchester being a poky milltown.Liverpool was never the centre of the cotton industry.Whoever said that is a bit deluded.Cotton was dropped off at the jetty originally, then sent via the ship canal eventually to Manchester.If the truth be known, Oldham was the centre of the cotton industry with a bigger production than the United States.So neither city can claim that accolade.Both cities are ghastly in European terms.Both are impoverished,both can only talk about football and music.Both are full of litter and both have low productivity levels.Both cities produce an incredible array of successful people in all fields,but are unable to hold on to these people once they are successful.Let’s face it,if you were rich and successful,would you want to live in Cheetham Hill,Scotland Road,or Richmond Upon Thames?

By Elephant

I think the scousers are feeling a little insecure about their little fishing outpost.

By Brian

Twas not I that called M/c a pokey mill town Elephant, check your threads…
And sorry Elephant, people do want to live in Sefton Park, in Formby and on the Liverpool waterfront rather than in London the quality of life is superb and it can be exhilarating.
Yes, parts of the city centre still need a lot of improving, and much of the inner city region is desperately poor, but there is a real belief that it can be better…. and that’s based on the experience of what’s been achieved already.

By Alfie

I think we are excited about the future of our great city.

By Alfie

The comments on this page are pathetic – from both factions. Both cities are facets of the most vibrant region in the UK outside London. It gets that vibrancy from uniquely having two great complimentary cities. If only this stupid rivalry could be put aside and what was called by John Prescott’s Office of the Deputy “the North West Metropolitan Region”, this country would have a true regional rival to the capital with a population of over 5 million and stretching from the Dee to the Pennines and from Wigan to Wilmslow. Stop the schoolboy rivalry and play to the Region’s strengths!

By 5373

Glad to see the back of osbourne Manchester can now sit on the back burner where it belongs

By CARLY

Agree with 5373. We will all be better off when we work together. We should have our arguments in private like family, and put on a united front to the outside world.

By Alfie

Oh dear, it appears I’ve touched a nerve ! Apologies if I’ve upset any Liverpudlians.
Saying that, this debate had proven to me the people from Liverpool are blinkered

By phildered

Yes all people from Liverpool are blinkered ??
Oh dear what a statement to make !!!
the thing with people from manchester is they just cant stop slating Liverpool and think its a small port ??? How wrong can they be they are so blinkered.

By STE

People from Manchester talk about Liverpool with such venom, i find this very unhealthy and worrying for them.

By STE

The likes of whitehall love Manchester and the reason for this they know it’s a dead weight for the north and keeps the region down because the city wants to be the Northern Capital and is like a spoilt bratt ? lol did they not teach pupils in Manchester that they can only be one Captial in each country? London.
Wake up and smell the coffee.

By Adam

Liverpool’s history is as a great port; Manchesters as a great industrial and commercial city.

By Puddled

Liverpool was s great port because of geography.Manchester was a great city because of unrivalled entrepreneurial brilliance.That is why one is still doing relatively well and the other is Liverpool.

By Elephant

Liverpool is still a great port and back in the game ,one of the largest in the Uk , the are billions of pounds worth of investment currently happening, Liverpool waters about to start ,along with Liverpool 2 ,Cruise terminal ,Mersey gateway bridge , Baltic triangle with world class digital hub , new royal hospital one of the largest in the Uk , World class Knowledge Quarter,a new world class clatterbridge cancer hospital , tropical school of medicine , airport that is actually in the city that is growing, RIBA headquarters, World Capital of pop, Culture second to none ,largest free music festival in Europe, World Herritage Status , Ship biulding , car manufacturing , Liverpool Gin , Parks some of the best in the country ,Artchiteture the best outside of London the capital ,Liverpool is truly beautiful place , calsterstones ,Aigburth ,Giorgian Quarter ,West Kirkby ,Southport ,Formby Coast,New Brighton ,Ferry across the Mersey ,Walk along the fabulous beaches .i could go on and on.
I moved from Manchester to Liverpool 16 years ago and never looked back.

By Val

My partner couldn’t wait to get out of Manchester, we both love Liverpool, it’s the city of the future.

By Alfie

Carthy, your industrial history is utterly embarrassing. ‘Liverpool became the world’s leading city for cotton production’ – erm no it didn’t. ‘Firstly, in 1721, developers linked Liverpool to Manchester by canal, adding links to Leeds and St. Helens in the following years’ – First man made canal built in Britain was the Bridgewater, in 1762 – the Leeds-Liverpool canal (which I’m assuming you are referring to) doesn’t even go to Manchester. And the Liverpool/Manchester stuff really should stay in the playground.

By Loganberry

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