Final reminders have been issued to voters across Greater Manchester ahead of tomorrow’s General Election.
With less than 24 hours to go now until polls up and down the country open for what could be a historic moment in British political history, the 2024 General Election, voters throughout the region are being reminded of voting protocols and what they’ll need to take with them to their allocated polling station tomorrow (4 July).
Councils throughout Greater Manchester are reminded voters of both polling day and postal voting arrangements.
All polling stations across the UK will be open from 7am to 10pm tomorrow.
Under national rules, all voters will have to have approved photo ID, such as UK, EU, or Commonwealth passports, a photocard driving licence, a Voter Authority Certificate, or other specified forms of ID, in order to be able to vote.
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Accepted ID can still be used for voting even if it has expired, as long the photo is still a good likeness of the voter, and a full list of accepted ID can be found on the Government‘s website here.
Most polling stations across Greater Manchester will have privacy screens available as standard for anyone who wants to show their ID in private, for whatever reason they may wish to do so, and Manchester City Council, in particular, has assured voters that its polling day staff are “trained to handle such requests discreetly and with courtesy”.
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People who have requested and received postal votes are being encouraged to complete and return them as soon as possible.
If you are a postal voter, but are unable to post the completed postal ballot yourself, then you should only ask someone you know and trust to post them, as it’s a criminal offence for candidates or political campaigners to handle the postal vote of anyone who is not a close relative, or someone who they provide care for.
Although it may seem a little close to the wire, postal votes can actually still be posted back on polling day itself.
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Royal Mail will carry out a final sweep of post boxes and deliver all postal votes to elections staff tomorrow, as long as they are posted before the final collection time for that particular postbox – but if they are posted after the final collection time, they won’t arrive in time to be counted.
You will need to bring photo ID to vote at all UK polling stations / Credit: Electoral Commission (via gov.uk)
Electors can also hand in completed postal ballots to any polling station in the Manchester City Council area, or at the Customer Service Centre in the town hall extension building, between 9am and 5pm up to and including polling day.
Anyone handing in a postal ballot pack will be provided with a form which must be completed to ensure the pack is accepted.
This is likely to be the case for most other Greater Manchester boroughs too, but voters are advised to check what applies to them in their parliamentary constituency.
Featured Image – gov.uk
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Simon Wood announces gutting closure of Manchester restaurant after seven years
Danny Jones
Celebrity chef and Manchester local Simon Wood has announced that his self-titled WOOD Restaurant has sadly closed its doors.
The Oldham-born chef-owner who won MasterChef back in 2015, revealed the unfortunate news on Wednesday, 2 October, confirming that the First Street site will be closing immediately. Truly gutting.
Wood has remained one of Greater Manchester’s most-renowned chefs for the past decade, not to mention a huge advocate for supporting the hospitality industry, especially post-Covid and during the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Sharing an emotional post on Instagram, he wrote: “It is with much regret that I have to inform you that I must close the doors here at WOOD for good, with immediate effect.”
“We have had 7 years as part of the Manchester city dining scene and I’m very proud of what the team and I have achieved”, the 48-year-old continued.
“Sadly with COVID rent arrears now being demanded by our landlord and an increasingly difficult marketplace, energy increases, ingredient costs and soon-to-be spiralling business rates we just cannot make this work.”
“I’d like to thank everyone for your support and patronage over the years. Thank you, Simon.”
It was only at the start of the week that Wood shared a frustrated post about a group of no-show customers over the weekend that failed to even pre-warn that they would no longer be attending one of his most exclusive and costly experiences.
We’re starting to lose count of how many local businesses are unfortunately struggling in the face of the rising business rates and energy bills that all independents are facing at the minute.
It was only last month that we saw Almous Famous had to call it a day with their Withington location and beloved sandwich spot Micky’s sadly suffer the same fate. Even cult favourite Cafe Marhaba looks to have gone up for sale. So tough to swallow.
We’re genuinely gutted for everyone involved with the brand. All the best, Si – we know you’ll be back stronger than ever one of these days.
Featured Images — The Manc Group
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No trams to run through major Manchester city centre station this weekend
Emily Sergeant
Arguably Manchester city centre’s most important tram stop is set to be out of action this weekend, with no services running through it.
In what is another part of Transport for Greater Manchester‘s (TfGM) ongoing programme of works intended to “maintain and improve” the Metrolink system and ensure tram journeys in Greater Manchester remain “safe, reliable, and accessible”, it’s been confirmed that no trams will run through Cornbrook this weekend.
Due to this, there will be a change to operating patterns across the majority of the Metrolink network on both Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 October.
As is often the case in instances like these, disruption to passengers is expected.
On Saturday and Sunday [5 and 6 October], no trams will operate through Cornbrook.
There will be a change to operating patterns and replacement bus services will be in operation.
On Saturday (5 October), the tram service pattern will change to Altrincham – Old Trafford, Bury – Ashton-under-Lyne, East Didsbury – Firswood, Etihad Campus – Bury (peak time only) / Victoria (after peak only), Manchester Airport – Firswood, Rochdale Town Centre – Deansgate-Castlefield (via Exchange Square), and The Trafford Centre – Wharfside.
Similarly, on Sunday (6 October), the only difference to the above service pattern is that the Etihad Campus tram will only run to Victoria, not Bury.
Services will operate every 12 minutes, except for on the Eccles line, where no trams will run at all.
TfGM is also warning that there may be changes to the first and last tram times during these works, but, in bid to help people still get to their destinations, three bus replacement services will operate from Firswood to Victoria, Old Trafford to Piccadilly, and Eccles to Piccadilly.
No trams will run through major Manchester city centre station Cornbrook this weekend / Credit: TfGM
The Old Trafford to Piccadilly bus service will run through Wharfside, while the Eccles to Piccadilly will travel via MediaCity.
“These works are a vitally important part of maintaining a safe and reliable network for all our customers,” explained
Ian Davies, who is TfGM’s Interim Network Director for Metrolink, said these works are “a vitally important part” of maintaining the Metrolink, and that work has been scheduled by TfGM to “minimise disruption to passengers and residents as much as possible”.