22/04/24 The Manchester Evening News speaks to Laura Evans, the Conservative candidate challenging Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham in the upcoming elections. Ms Evans argues that Mr Burnham “has levelled up city centre Manchester, but he hasn’t levelled up the rest”, telling the paper she aims to “entice business here to “increase the supply and share we can spend on people in Greater Manchester and deliver better results”. Ms Evans has also pledged to review the Places for Everyone development blueprint approved by nine local authorities last year and end the “half-baked Low Traffic Neighbourhoods scheme” to “end this war on motorists”.
Manchester Evening News

21/04/24 The Liberal Democrats have suspended local election candidate Rabina Asghar, who is standing for election to Rochdale Council, after she appeared in a video where she was endorsed by Workers Party MP George Galloway. Mr Galloway said in the video that while people “might be surprised” to see him supporting a Liberal Democrat candidate, he is “determined to get Labour out of Spotland, to get Labour out of the town hall where they have abused their power for so very long”.
Daily Mail   Manchester Evening News   The Sun

20/04/24 London mayor Sadiq Khan has published his manifesto as he seeks a third term in office in the upcoming elections – with the manifesto’s centrepiece a commitment to continue to offer free school lunches to older primary school children for four more years to “give the next generation a chance”. Free school meals, he said, “have proved a lifeline during the worst decline in living standards on record”, saving families money and helping children realise their potential. Mr Khan has also set out plans to boost funding for youth clubs, mentoring, and youth mental health support, to offer more youth services and work experience during school holidays, to deliver 40,000 new councils houses over his term, and to deliver 1,300 new police officers alongside a future Labour Government.
BBC News  | City A.M. |  London Evening Standard

19/04/24 West Midlands mayor Andy Street has said his decision to exclude Conservative Party branding from his campaign material is “utterly deliberate”, saying the mayoralty “is a different type of political role”. Voters, he said, are “getting used to this, because historically, it’s all been Westminster. People are sick and tired of that.” Mr Street said while he is still a “proud Conservative”, that is “totally different to ‘Do I agree with this Conservative government in everything it’s doing?'”. While Mr Street has set out plans to boost social housebuilding in the region and to create more than 400,000 jobs and training opportunities, recent polling has put him behind Labour candidate Richard Parker.
The Guardian

19/04/24The BBC looks at the state of play as the local elections near, identifying at-risk Conservative councils like Adur, Basildon, Gloucester, and North East Lincolnshire, and Labour targets like Redditch, Milton Keynes, Hartlepool and Harlow, and looking at the possible impact of the Israel-Gaza conflict, which has already seen dozens of Labour councillors resign from the party to sit as independents. While Reform UK has seen a rise in support in national polls in recent months, the piece notes: “they don’t have much of a record in local government and have only around 320 candidates at these elections so it’s going to be hard for them to make a significant national breakthrough”.
BBC News