Manchester City Council’s new leader Bev Craig on ‘levelling up’ and tackling inequality
On 1st December, Councillor Bev Craig became the leader of Manchester City Council. She spoke with The Manc about her plans to improve life in the city.
Growing up on a council estate just outside of Belfast, Manchester Councillor Bev Craig assumed everyone lived as she did – until she moved to Manchester, that is.
It’s a time that she acknowledges was instrumental in shaping her worldview. A self-proclaimed socialist, she has been a key player in making Greater Manchester a real living wage city and has strong views on how to improve housing, infrastructure and investment across the ten boroughs – not just in the city centre.
First landing in Manchester as a young undergraduate student in 2003, knowing little more than what she’d seen of it on the telly, she was a self-confessed ‘skint student’ working all the extra hours she could find to supplement her income.
Back then, she tells us that life was ‘pretty much Fallowfield, up the Oxford Road corridor and into the city centre’ – quite a stretch from the life she lives in Manchester today, as the city council’s first new leader in 25 years.
“I grew up thinking we lived a very normal and ordinary life,” she told us during an interview for our Manc Meets series.
Bev Craig. Credit: The Manc Group
“I grew up on a council estate just outside of Belfast, and it wasn’t really until I moved to Manchester for university that I actually realised in life more people had money than we did growing up.”
She says that a lot of her hanging out as a student was done at home, laughing as she adds there was “possibly a bit of drinking at home before going out, and probably too much junk food on the way [back]”.
Keen to stress that over the years her tastes have since refined, she adds: “There’s no Lambrini anymore, I’m firmly on the proper wine – I’d say the city has drastically changed and I’ve got to know the city much, much better.”
As someone with close experiences with those living in poverty, she’s very focused on tackling inequality in Greater Manchester within her new role.
“I want Manchester to have a really exciting and thriving economy but I want that to be inclusive. I want the growth in the city to continue, but I want all Manchester people to benefit from its successes,” she tells us.
With plans that include building new social and affordable housing, taking action on the climate breakdown and delivering a net-zero carbon status for Manchester by 2038, she’s got a lot to get done.
As a socialist, she says that means: “Wanting to get the best deal for Manchester and having a city where everybody can thrive, where everybody has opportunities, and where we build a more equal and fair and sustainable city.”
She says: “Ithink sometimes the Labour Party gets a bit hung up on labels that we call ourselves, actually it’s about what you believe in and what can you do for the city.”
When it comes to achieving these improvements for local people, one area in which she is particularly clear is that it isn’t enough to just increase wages – but rather that introducing new terms and conditions, and ensuring good quality pay over a long period of time, is also incredibly important.
“I don’t think that the minimum wage we have in this country is enough, it’s not enough to pay your rent, to pay your bills, and to be able to actually have a life that you can enjoy.”
Councillor Bev Craig
“So I’ve been a supporter over the years of the real living wage campaign but for me, that’s the start, that’s why improving the minimum level that you get paid but actually there has to be something much bigger”.
As the executive member or cabinet member for adults health and wellbeing, one of the first things that she brought in was the real living wage.
As a result of this, she improved the pay for Manchester’s home care workers across the board – then, when she became deputy leader she went one step further, launching Manchester’s bid to become a real living wage city.
Whilst she’s clear that nobody in Manchester should be paid less than the real living wage, she adds she’s also a pragmatist.
“We need to bring people with us and that, we need to bring businesses with us, the city council has been doing it for years now but we need to encourage other people to come with us,” she tells us.
“We’re talking about Manchester people getting CEO jobs, working in digital and tech, working in some of our frontier economies around what are we going to do to solve climate change and the green economy, and that begins in schools, colleges, universities and the whole way through.”
Bev Craig. Credit: Manchester City Council
It all sounds a lot like the current government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda, something Bev says ‘is what we’ve been talking about as Labour politicians for a very long time’.
“It’s about tackling some of the differences in spending in the north of the country, particularly in infrastructure and investment that we see in London and the south-east,” she continues.
“Yeah I’m a Labour politician, but any government of any colour, if they want to invest in the city and do the right thing we will absolutely work with them on that.”
Much has also been made of the fact that Bev is the city’s first-ever female leader and Manchester’s first openly gay council leader – not to mention one of very few openly gay women in British politics across the board.
She acknowledges the significance of her position and says that her message to Manchester young people is ‘it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, you can be anything that you want to be’.
However, she also adds that she’d “like to get to the point where being a woman and being gay is like the least interesting thing about me, rather than the thing that people hone in on.”
This year, she will be launching a commission around tackling misogyny and violence against women and girls in Manchester – asking people to input their views and their feelings on the matter in light of an increase in incidents since the start of the pandemic.
Acknowledging that “people perhaps still don’t feel as safe as they could be”, she’s also asked the council’s licensing team to be working with venues, “to make sure that we’re doing as much as we can when people go and enjoy a night out.”
She also tells us that “housing, homelessness and tackling some of the broader inequalities that might lead up to homelessness” are three of the key areas she’ll be looking at in the next 12 to 24 months, as well as an upcoming battle around HS2 and a big for Manchester to get its own underground railway station, akin to the London Underground.
“I’m really proud I think of the city that Manchester’s become over the last twenty years-end certainly something that gives me hope and optimism, and something I would say is the journey we’ve been on, the improvements we’ve made, that’s in no way, it’s not finished, there’s plenty more to do and there’s loads of exciting stuff I think in Manchester’s future that we’re looking forward to build.”
Having only just been elected to her position at the beginning of December 2021 now is the time for her to start putting those words into action.
In what is already being dubbed the ‘year of the squeeze’, we think it’s safe to say that the people of Manchester definitely need it.
Feature image – Manchester City Council / The Manc Group
News
The Manchester charity that’s championing the community one step at a time
Thomas Melia
There’s a Manchester-based charity which is helping uplift and champion communities throughout the city centre and wider Greater Manchester region.
Us Mancs certainly know a thing or two about community, whether it’s our influential music scene, football clubs, our hospitality scene and so on, but Forever Manchester takes this to the next level.
This charity has been consistently funding and supporting community initiatives throughout Greater Manchester by helping people achieve the extraordinary, all while maintaining plenty of local pride.
Forever Manchester was born from a mission to support the people and places that make Greater Manchester magic, and is all about making sure the community is at the forefront of everything they do.
Credit: Forever Manchester
The community-first charity has invested over £65 million into local communities and awarded £517,968 to over 100 different community groups.
This isn’t a new charity either, Forever Manchester has been deep in our city’s culture for quite some time since launching in 1989, most notably commissioning local poet Tony Walsh’s ‘This is the Place’.
The piece was originally published in 2012 before finding a very special place in our hearts back in 2017 when Walsh performed the poem at a vigil for the Manchester Arena attack.
This love letter to Manchester has not only gone on to become a part of the city’s history but also reaffirmed this organisation’s place throughout communities in the region.
Credit: Supplied
Now, the community-minded charity is ready to make a mark in 2025 with a whole host of initiatives, including a Forever Manchester lottery, pub quizzes, comedy nights and disco bingo.
Anyone looking to find out more information about this community-first charity and see some examples of the work it does can visit Forever Manchester’s official website.
Remember, this is a city that looks after its own – that’s the kind of energy we want to see you keeping up all year long.
And, if you have a soft spot for a tote bag or wall art prints, look no further than Forever Manchester’s shop, where every purchase directly contributes to community activities in Greater Manchester HERE.
Billie Eilish at Co-op Live, Manchester – tickets, times, setlist and more for UK tour
Thomas Melia
Billie Eilish is ready to take over Co-op Live for four nights of tear-jerking, heart-wrenching, belly-aching hits right here in Manchester.
Ms. ‘Ocean Eyes’ herself is coming to Manchester this month, and we’re on hand with all the info you need so you don’t have to ‘Guess’ anything on the day of your show.
Billie Eilish has cemented her position in the music industry as one of the leading hitmakers, and at only 23 years old, this artist has won nine Grammy Awards and racked up three UK number-one singles.
The American star has been grafting since her early teens, dropping her first ever EP, don’t smile at me, in 2017 at only 16 years old and has reached height after height ever since.
Billie Eilish gig guide
Billie Eilish is playing at Co-op Live in Manchester on 19, 20, 22 and 23 July.Credit: Press shot (supplied)
Her latest album ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’, which is also the name of the tour, is Eilish’s third studio album and it’s stacked with bangers like ‘Birds of a Feather’, ‘Lunch’ and ‘Wildflower’, just to name a few.
Are there tickets left for Billie Eilish tickets in Manchester?
Anyone after tickets to any of the upcoming Billie Eilish gigs in Manchester might be in for a ‘not-so-lovely’ surprise, as you can expect, as most general tickets are sold out.
However, anyone who’s missed out on tickets for Billie’s FOUR-gig run in Manchester can still take a look at a variety of premium ticket packages.
You can grab your ‘Birds of a Feather’ and a ticket or two for the Saturday, 19 July show HERE.
Pack your ‘Lunch’ and put on your best outfit because there are exclusive tickets for the Sunday, 20 July gig HERE.
Your friends will be calling you ‘The Greatest’ when you let them know about the premium tickets still left for Tuesday, 22 July right HERE.
Finally, grab ‘L’amour De Ma Vie’ and sing your heart out with a range of hospitality tickets to choose from on Wednesday, 23 July HERE. And breathe…
Billie Eilish setlist
Chihiro
Lunch
NDA
Therefore I Am
Wildflower
when the party’s over
The Diner
ilomilo
bad guy
The Greatest
Your Power
Skinny
TV
bury a friend
Oxytocin
Guess
everything i wanted
lovely / Blue / ocean eyes (Medley)
L’amour De Ma Vie
What Was I Made For?
Happier Than Ever
Birds of a Feather
What are the stage times for Billie Eilish in Manchester?
Co-op Live has a strict curfew of 11pm, meaning concertgoers can be safe knowing ‘when the party’s over’ it won’t be well into the early hours.
Doors for ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ tour are scheduled for 6pm with support acts Syd and Magdalena Bay on hand to soundtrack your evening and leave you feeling ‘Happier Than Ever’ before Billie at 8pm.
The first act, Syd, is known for co-founding influential R’n’B band, The Internet (big fans, by the way), and has just dropped a new solo single ‘Die For This’ ahead of her Billie Eilish tour stint.
How to get to Co-op Live
Tram
For those of you heading to Co-op Live, you’ll be glad to know it’s right next door to a rather famous big blue stadium and its integrated Metrolink stop.
Head along the light blue or orange lines directly to the Etihad Campus or Ashton-under-Lyne, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Trams run frequently on the Ashton-Eccles line to the Etihad stop, with services leaving every six minutes from the city centre until 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
The ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour’ will mark Billie Eilish’s first ever Co-op Live appearance.Credit: William Drumm (supplied)
Bus
You can find the full list of bus routes HERE, with the one in closest proximity to the venue being the 53 bus, which runs from Cheetham Hill through to Higher Crumpsall, Old Trafford and Pendleton, leaving just a two-minute walk to Co-op Live. You also get free Bee Network travel with any valid event ticket.
Getting there by car and parking
If you’re driving, there is limited parking available at the venue,e but this must be pre-booked ahead of time and there are designated drop-off areas.
The postcode is M11 3DU, and you can follow the signs towards the wider Etihad Campus as you get closer; directions to the adjacent drop-off points will also be signposted.
Keep in mind that congestion on the roads close to the stadium is expected to gather around two hours prior to any event, so if you are travelling on the road, these are the suggested times they provide come event day – though estimates will vary, obviously:
Alan Turing Way (both directions): plan an additional 20 minutes into any journey by road.
Hyde Road (eastbound): expect an additional 15 minutes to be added to your journey.
Mancunian Way (westbound): plan for an extra 10 minutes of travel time.
There are also three park-and-ride facilities near Co-op Live, but be advised that the Velopark and Holt Town stops will be closed post-event to help safely manage crowds:
Ashton West (Ashton line) – 184 spaces and 11 disabled spaces
Ladywell (Ashton-Eccles line) – 332 spaces and 22 disabled spaces
Walk/cycle
Lastly, Co-op Live is only a half-hour stroll from Manchester Piccadilly, and you could even walk along the canal all the way to the front door if you fancy taking the scenic route.
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes via the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app. There are hire points just near the south-west corner of the Etihad Stadium on Ashton New Road.
For more information on all travel options, you can check out the enhanced journey planner.