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Mayoral and council elections are ‘likely to be delayed’ in Greater Manchester this year

Although postponement is unconfirmed at present, the government said the matter was being kept "under review".

The Manc The Manc - 7th January 2021
Wikimedia Commons / AFP

It is understood that the council and mayoral elections in Greater Manchester are “likely to be delayed” again this year due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The BBC has revealed that the region’s 10 council leaders were told at a meeting on Tuesday that the government expects to delay the 6th May elections until the summer, with a number of local leaders believing it would be more realistic to hold the polls in the autumn.

Although delays are unconfirmed at present, the government said the matter was being kept “under review”.

This is of course not the first time the local and mayoral polls have been postponed, as they were originally due to be held on 7th May 2020 but were pushed back as a result of the first wave of the pandemic, seeing Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and hundreds of other councillors remain in their post for another year.

But with coronavirus (COVID-19) continuing to spread rapidly – and with England now being under lockdown – it’s believed that the government now accepts it is highly unlikely that polling stations can open on 6th May.

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A spokesperson for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Returning Officer said: “Greater Manchester Combined Authority and local government partners are engaging with government to discuss the delivery of May’s elections.

“We are awaiting further guidance from government.”

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Flickr / Descrier

Greater Manchester is likely to not be the only region to see election delays either.

Voting is scheduled at local councils across England, for thirteen directly-elected mayors, and 40 police and crime commissioners in England and Wales.

Holding the elections with postal votes only has already been ruled out.

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A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “We continue to work closely with the electoral community and public health bodies to resolve challenges and ensure everyone will be able to cast their vote safely and securely – and in a way of their choosing.

“Measures are planned to support absent voting at short notice.

“Guidance will be published in good time ahead of the polls and this matter will be kept under review.”

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Mancunian has been named one of the ‘most attractive’ accents in the UK

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Manchester is, once again, celebrating what we already know – our accent is one of the “most attractive” in the UK.

In case you missed it, earlier this year, Manchester welcomed in 2023 with the news that our city’s accent had been named the “sexiest” the country has to offer – with a survey of 2,500 people by casino comparison site Best Casinos discovering that over half of respondents ranked it the most pleasing regional accent to the ear.

And now it turns out that that survey wasn’t a fluke, because a new study has called the Manchester accent one of the “most attractive” in the UK.

On a top 10 list compiled from the findings of a new survey of 2,000 people aged 18 to 55+ by online language tutoring service Preply, the Mancunian accent has claimed a pretty respectable fifth place.

But while there’s no doubt we can hold our heads high and be proud of claiming a spot in the top 10, this title does become a bit less impressive when you realise which other regional varieties have placed higher than us.

Mancunian has been named one of the ‘most attractive’ accents in the UK / Credit: Preply | Pexels

Fellow Northern accents Scouse and Geordie have taken second and third place on the list respectably, and the Welsh capital’s Cardiff accent rounding out the top five.

For us northerners, the grim reading continues when you learn that the London accent has clinched the top spot.

The Most Attractive Accents in the UK

  1. London
  2. Liverpool
  3. Newcastle
  4. Cardiff
  5. Manchester
  6. Glasgow
  7. Birmingham 
  8. Bristol 
  9. Leeds

According to Preply, 21% of women survey respondents voted for the London accent as the most attractive in the UK, compared with just 15% of men, while 10.4% of the population picked the unique sound of the Liverpool accent as second best.

Only 8.7% of survey respondents considered the Mancunian accent to be the most attractive.

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The results from this survey do, at least, go some way to shattering the findings from two surveys published last year that found the Manchester accent is considered to be one of the ‘least respected’ nationwide, especially in the corporate world of work, and that Northerners with strong accents are considered ‘less intelligent’.

Featured Image – Unknown

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The first bright yellow Bee Network bus has hit the streets of Greater Manchester

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Greater Manchester residents will soon start to see bright yellow double decker buses travelling the region’s streets in the coming weeks.

With exactly six months to go before Greater Manchester “brings buses back under local control”, Mayor Andy Burnham has joined a number of other local leaders in unveiling the brand-new ‘Bee Network’ co-branded buses.

In what marks the biggest change to transport in Greater Manchester for almost 40 years, according to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), bus operator Diamond – which currently runs services in Bolton – has teamed up with Go North West to run the first franchised services in Wigan, Bolton, and parts of Salford and Bury from September this year.

Diamond has agreed to start transforming their buses into Bee Network ones from this week, with more set to appear on the roads every month.

The first bright yellow double decker bus has now hit the streets of Bolton, and is serving the number 8 route – which connects Bolton and Manchester city centre via Farnworth and Salford.

As already announced by TfGM and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), when franchising is officially introduced on 24 September 2023, 50 brand-new electric Bee Network buses will hit the streets on day one, alongside new ‘Euro VI’ vehicles, and dozens more co-branded buses from the existing fleet.

A further 50 electric buses will then be introduced onto the network in March 2024, which is when the second part of franchising starts.

All of the 270 new electric Bee Network buses will be fully accessible, with wheelchair bays, hearing induction loops, audio and visual announcement systems, and anti-slip flooring.

Mayor Andy Burnham said the first Bee Network bus entering service is “very much the start of our journey”, and added that the scheme will “ultimately deliver a greener, integrated and more inclusive transport system that will transform how people travel around our city-region.”

The first bright yellow Bee Network bus has hit the streets of Greater Manchester / Credit: TfGM

Transport Commissioner Vernon Everitt also called the first bus’s introduction onto the streets as “a further significant step” towards the integration of the Bee Network and the “transformation” of public transport and active travel in the region.

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He continued: “From September we’ll also have dozens of new state-of-the-art buses serving passengers in Wigan, Bolton, and parts of Salford and Bury.

“These will be the first of many across Greater Manchester that will, alongside the new lower fares – which are already increasing ridership – and improvements to travel information, improve bus travel for everyone who lives and works here.”

Featured Image – TfGM

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