Surrounded by two hundred supporters, a guest appearance by Manchester’s PM in waiting and many of Greater Manchester’s MPs and numerous councillors, Bev Craig launched her campaign to become Greater Manchester’s next Mayor
Andy Burnham who had swapped his dark blue tee shirt for white, told the assembled crowd that Manchester’s best decade was in front of us and described Craig as the best person to take the City region forward adding that she was the best Captain of that team
Craig announced one policy from her manifesto which to Hughes cheers from her supporters was to be free bus travel for 11-18 year olds on the Bee Network
Craig has led Manchester City Council since December of 2021 beckoning the first woman and the first LGBT leader of the council.
In her speech she said how she turned up in Manchester with no friends, no connections and no money
She wanted to build on the strong foundations laid by her predecessors but reminded the audience that many people are still to benefit from the region’s success
“They work hard, they do the right thing but still they struggle at the end of the month….We need to build a Greater Manchester that works for all of us, one that puts more money in people’s pockets, that makes sure that they have a good home to come back to”
She said that we have to make sure that there is pride in all our High Streets and continue to build the Bee Network so that people can get to where they want to go and to enable them to grasp the opportunities that come their way
As Mayor she said, she would set herself a task every day of asking the question, is what I am doing is making life better for people and making them better off
