Communists and the Greater Manchester Mayoral Election

There has been some confusion concerning the position of the Communist Party and the forthcoming Manchester mayoral election.

So to clarify matters:

The Communist Party of Britain are not standing a candidate in this contest for the election of a Greater Manchester Mayor.

The Communist Party still has strong reservations about the whole so called “Devomanc” project, something that was cobbled together largely behind closed doors by a pro-big business clique in Manchester and other Labour-led local authorities in Greater Manchester, and former Tory chancellor George Osborne. Its purpose, for the Tories, was to devolve cuts and austerity, as soon became clear when we saw how much (or little) cash would actually be available. We were at the forefront of opposing this, and respect those in the Labour Party who spoke out against it such as the late Gerald Kaufman, MP for Manchester Gorton.

Nevertheless, the election is now taking place, and Labour's  Andy Burnham has made some strong statements concerning housing/ homelessness, transport, health and other key issues, indicating  a wish to redirect local government policy to work in the interests of the majority, including the poorest. So the Communist Party in Manchester will be taking our usual position where we are not standing a candidate ourselves and will call for a Labour vote.

This does not mean that we believe that Labour should be given a blank cheque. Andy Burnham, if elected, should be given full backing to ensure that Greater Manchester gets the resources that are necessary to provide the services and create the decent jobs and homes that the people need. This will need significant mobilisation by the labour and trade union movement and working class people as a whole in popular campaigns. And he should be held to account if he fails to live up to his promises.

The Communist Party calls for a People’s Devolution, just as we call for a People’s Brexit.