r/Labour

On Thursday 30 July, Greater Manchester will be electing a new mayor. The by-election follows Andy Burnham’s decision to return to Westminster, but it’s not just the mayor who will be changing. The way the voters of Greater Manchester choose their next Mayor will also change.

For the first time since it was abolished by the previous government, the traditional Supplementary Vote (SV) system will once again be used for mayoral elections.

How does the Supplementary Vote work?

Instead of voting for just one candidate, voters can mark a first choice and a second choice. If one candidate is the first choice of more than half of voters, they win immediately.

If nobody wins more than half, only the top two candidates stay in the contest. Rather than make everyone come back to pick between them, the ballots are checked again. If your first choice is one of the final two, your vote stays with them. If your first choice was knocked out, but your second choice is one of the final two, your vote is added to their total.

The Supplementary Vote is designed to stop vote splitting, which is when a large group of voters who all want roughly the same thing, split their vote between multiple candidates.

Why First Past the Post was always a poor fit for mayors

First Past the Post works by electing whichever candidate receives the most votes, even if they fall far short of half of the voters. Last year, we saw exactly what that means in practice.

In Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, Conservative Paul Bristow was elected with just 28.36% of the vote. In the West of England, Labour’s Helen Godwin won with a mere 24.97%…

26% say they intend to vote for Reform UK (-1 point from May), while Labour has risen 4 points to 24%. The Conservatives stand at 18% (-1), the Green Party at 13% (-1), and the Liberal Democrats at 11% (-1).

Labour has recovered some of its core support, retaining 52% of its 2024 general election voters, compared to 44% recorded last month. This comes as the proportion of 2024 Labour voters saying they intend to defect to the Greens fell sharply from 19% to 8%.
 
However, wider public opinion on the administration remains broadly negative; just 14% are satisfied with the way the government is running the country, compared to 78% who are dissatisfied.

Furthermore, 63% of the public disagree that the current government is competent, and 52% disagree that it deserves to be re-elected. 

Sir Keir Starmer has apologised on behalf of the British state for its role in historical forced adoptions in England and Wales.

An estimated 185,000 babies were taken from their mothers in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, with women pressured into giving up their children because they were unmarried.

In a statement in the House of Commons, Sir Keir said what happened to "tens of thousands of mothers, children and families" was "a stain on our history".

"The shame is not yours. The shame was never yours. The shame is ours," he said.

The apology comes after years of campaigning from mothers, adoptees and their wider families, and parliamentary reports into the issue.

No compensation scheme has been put in place, but a £4 million support package over three years has been announced for better access to adoption records and improved family reunion services.

Sir Keir said: "Mothers, many young, vulnerable, and without support were coerced, bullied, or misled into feeling that they had no choice but to have their children taken away from them. What a thing to do."

Sir Keir said the forced adoptions were not isolated or accidental acts, but were practices "embedded" across local authorities, religious organisations and parts of what is now the NHS.

"All institutions that operated with power over people's lives, yet they did so without compassion, without consent, and without dignity or proper safeguards" he told the Commons.

He continued: "We are deeply and profoundly sorry to the mothers who were told they were unfit, who were prevented from caring for the children they desperately wanted to help and to keep, and who have carried this loss for decades."

(...)

The formal apology recognises the "lifelong trauma" endured by mothers who had their babies forcibly adopted, campaign group the Movement for an Adoption Apology said, as it also paid tribute to the many "determined women" who had long pushed for the state to say sorry.

Affected women have said public sector employees, such as doctors, nurses and social workers, were involved in pressuring them into adoption due to social stigma around being young and unmarried.

(Polling conducted in April 2026)

Around three-quarters of Britons (73%) and an even higher proportion of those currently renting privately (85%) have heard of the Renters Rights Act.

1 in 4 Britons (23%) haven’t heard of the Act and 22% say they have heard of it but know nothing about it. Private renters are more clued up, but 1 in 8 of this tenure (12%) haven’t heard of the Act, 14% say they have but know nothing.

People are more positive than negative about its impact - 36% are positive, 10% negative - but most are lukewarm (22%) or don’t know (31%).

However, they warm to it after seeing a selection of the Act’s main provisions. Half (52%) expect it to have a positive impact, 11% expect a negative impact. 7 in 10 (69%) private renters expect it to have a positive impact (just 4% are negative).

The abolition of "no-fault" Section 21 evictions is the most well-known change - 71% of people have heard of this but 22% of the public haven’t and nor have 13% of private renters.

1 in 3 or more of the public – at least 1 in 5 private renters - haven’t heard of six other provisions including changes designed to bring more financial security to renters:

• 33% hadn’t heard that landlords will only be able to increase rents once a year (20% of private renters).
• 38% hadn’t heard that landlords and agents will have to list rental properties with a fixed price and will be banned from encouraging or accepting bidding wars (24% of private renters).
• 38% hadn’t heard that landlords will only be allowed to take/accept one month’s rent in advance (25% of private renters).

Continued concerns about affordability and the ability of any of the major political parties to improve it provide the backdrop to the Act’s introduction.

A third of Britons are very (11%) or fairly concerned (22%) about their ability to pay their rent/mortgage repayments at the moment

As was the case in May 2022, more private renters are very or fairly concerned about their ability to pay the rent at the moment (51%) than are not (46%) – the equivalent figures were 54% and 45% four years ago.

Andy Burnham has committed to an overhaul of the British state in his first major address to the nation, signalling a “laser-like focus on good growth and regeneration”, devolution and a “housing first” philosophy.  

On Monday, the former Greater Manchester mayor used his address at The People’s Museum, Manchester, to argue that the current state of the housing market is having a “ruinous impact” on public finances. 

In the speech, Burnham set out his vision for Number 10 North, an extension of the prime minister’s office based in Manchester, which he says will be responsible for delivering the “regeneration of places” including the “biggest council house building programme since the post-war period” using “vacant public land to reduce costs.”

Number 10 North will also be responsible for the "reindustrialisation" of towns and cities and the reform of essential utilities. 

Britain has lost 1.5 million council homes since the 1980s and around the same number of people remain on housing waiting lists, creating a “housing trap” where the private-rented sector is funded through a benefits system, he told his audience. 

In order to rectify this, Burnham is looking to repair existing public housing stock and build new council homes. 

Burnham said he would be drawing on the Finnish “housing first” model of reform. The Developer reported in 2022 that the Nordic nation’s successful policy to eradicate homelessness was due to a policy focused on immediate permanent housing for homeless people, as opposed to a temporary, transitional accommodation system, saving the state 15,000 euros in social costs each year. 

The Finnish policy, which included the construction of new homes, the purchase of existing properties and the dismantling of the temporary shelter system as delivered through mayors, housebuilding NGOs and the state, not only garnered political consensus amongst the coalition government, but amongst the public, particularly younger citizens.

In the spirit of Manchesterism, Burnham’s model for a national programme also draws on work begun as mayor, where he launched the Housing First Unit in 2024 to study and ultimately end the housing crisis. The group’s research found that Greater Manchester’s ten councils were spending at least £75m a year on temporary accommodation. 

In November 2025, GMCA councils began tackling the supply of temporary accommodation through the GM Empty Homes and Leasing Programme, which includes funding to employ empty home officers and to bring 400 homes back into use as temporary or settled accommodation. 

This “decisive shift” in strategy to focus on housing provision is designed to create a more “preventative state”, a mantra Burnham and his allies in the Mainstream faction have woven into their pro-nationalisation policy platform. The goal of a “preventative state” is to take people out of welfare and into work.

“Everything starts with a good home,” said Burnham.

Labour's candidate for Mayor of Greater Manchester, Bev Craig, has announced plans to expand the Bee Network, freeze bus fares and introduce more free public transport as part of her election campaign.

The proposals were unveiled during the launch of her campaign bus in Stockport and would apply across Greater Manchester, including Rochdale, Bury and Bolton.

Speaking during a campaign visit to Burnage Rugby Football Club, Bev Craig set out a series of transport commitments which she said would improve journeys and reduce travel costs for residents across Greater Manchester.

The proposals include creating new Bee Network bus routes and supporting the next phase of Metrolink expansion to Stockport.

She also pledged to bring more rail services into the Bee Network by extending the contactless tap in and tap out payment system across trains to create a more joined up public transport network.

Under the plans, the current £2 bus fare cap would remain in place until 2027.

Craig also said she would widen access to free travel. Building on an earlier commitment to provide free bus passes for everyone aged 11 to 18, she said elderly and disabled passengers would also receive free travel passes. Labour said a family with two children attending secondary school could save around £20 each week under the proposals.

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Sharon Graham, the leader of the UK’s second biggest union, Unite, is to face a challenge as general secretary over claims the union is not doing enough to challenge the rise of Reform UK.

Simon Dubbins, who started out as a print worker and has been an international director with the union since 2008, will announce on Tuesday that he has secured the required number of nominations to mount a challenge.

Graham was criticised by some within the union movement last week for her attack on the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, and his net zero agenda, which she said would be a “noose around the neck” of job creation. She supports more drilling for fossil fuels in the North Sea.

A senior trade union source said there was widespread unease that Graham’s anti-Miliband, pro-drilling stance played into the hands of Reform’s leader, Nigel Farage. “[Graham’s] interventions are boosting Farage and his crypto backers. And her attack on Ed played right into the hands of the Labour right,” the source said. Unite has members in almost every sector of the economy and Dubbins’ team say they have the backing of more than 250 workplaces, including some of the union’s largest branches.

Dubbins said: “Our campaign for a new start for our union has won overwhelming backing from our organised membership in half the usual time. Members are tired of old divisions and frustrated with a leadership more obsessed with playing political games than stopping job losses and the attacks we face.”

Dubbins said the growth in the popularity of Reform, including among union members, was one of the most pressing political issues facing working people. He said Unite had failed to do enough to challenge the party and had a “unique responsibility to heal divisions, win workers back from the false promises of Farage, and ultimately stop a Reform government”.

Simon Dubbins intends to launch a campaign to become the new leader of Unite. 

“Reform will never be on the side of working people. From council workers to migrant workers, our members are under attack. Our union will defend you and we will take the fight to Reform and the far right,” he said.

Labour’s candidate is Bev Craig. Growing up on a council estate, Bev came to Manchester at 18 and worked her way up. She didn’t have money or connections – and it was Greater Manchester that gave her the opportunities that transformed her life. After 15 years in local government, she’s clear about what she wants to deliver next and determined that everyone has those same opportunities.  

“I will work every day for us to make sure everyone shares in the success Greater Manchester is building — making sure there’s more money in people’s pockets, pride in every town centre with a New High Streets Fund, a new generation of council and affordable homes and an expanded Bee Network that freezes fares and that works for all of us.”

Shortened summary

Success: boosts for ‘working people’. Labour’s employment rights bill was hailed by Starmer as “the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation” when it came into law in December. While Labour backed down from its plan to give all workers the right to claim unfair dismissal from their first day in a job, the bill paved the way for significant new rights for workers on sick pay, parental leave and zero-hours contracts.

One of the biggest moves made by this government – and one that has gone almost under the radar – is that from April this year, millions of low-paid workers in the UK got a 4.1% pay rise, increasing the earnings of about 2.4 million workers by £900 a year.

Plenty of workers are also renters, and Starmerites point to the Renters’ Rights Act as a boost for the almost two-fifths of households in England who rent. As a result of the act, landlords need a legal reason to evict tenants, tenancies are no longer fixed-term, and landlords have to follow a formal process to evict tenants.

Success: Starmer the international statesman. Starmer has often seemed at his most comfortable on the international stage. After spending much of his early period in power courting Donald Trump, he boasted last May that the UK had secured a “breakthrough” trade deal slashing some tariffs on cars, aluminium and steel and saving thousands of British jobs. That deal has looked shaky in recent months as Trump has belittled and berated Starmer for not supporting initial US-Israel strikes on Iran, but that decision seemed in keeping with the wishes of much of the electorate, and allowed Starmer to criticise the more gung-ho approach of his rivals.

On Ukraine, Starmer was steadfast and sought to join the EU’s £78bn recovery loan scheme for the country. On Europe, he sought closer relations, becoming increasingly vocal about his desire for a “Brexit-reset”.

Success: the children are our future. Starmer trumpeted the government’s decision to scrap the two-child benefit cap in March, saying he was “really proud” to lift “half a million children out of poverty” – though critics would likely point out this came after sustained pressure from Labour MPs.

His government also announced the opening of 1,000 new Best Start family hubs in England, and fully rolled out the Conservative policy of 30 hours of free, government-funded childcare per week for eligible working parents of children between nine months and school age, saving families roughly £7,500–£8,000 a year per child. It has also started a national rollout of free breakfast clubs for all primary school pupils. Ministers have also launched a supervised tooth-brushing scheme for three-to-five-year-olds.

Success: immigration. In May last year, Starmer promised that new immigration measures would mean net migration would fall “significantly” over the next four years. And so far it has – though there has been little focus from the government on this point. Over the last 12 months, according to the BBC tracker, net migration is 48% down, asylum claims are down 12% and small boat arrivals are down 41%.

Success: the economy. Whether Starmer can hail the economy’s performance as a triumph of his two years as prime minister is a moot point (see below). But borrowing costs hit a three-year low in April, before the effects of the Iran war and recent political chaos (which saw yields on 30-year government bonds to soar to their highest since May 1998) began to take hold. And at the start of the year inflation had fallen and a further cut in interest rates was expected. The government also launched a £7.3bn national wealth fund designed to unlock billions in private investment for UK infrastructure and green industry.

Failure: the bleak midwinter. One of Reeves’s first decisions as chancellor was to strip winter fuel allowance from the vast majority of pensioners. It was designed to demonstrate that the government was ready to take unpopular decisions, and the chancellor and her prime minister stuck with the unpopular decision for months. It U-turned only after heavy losses in local elections last May.

Failure: welfare policy. In March last year, Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, unveiled controversial changes to the benefits system that she said would get more people into work and save £5bn by reducing disability payments. But opposition from Labour backbenchers was instant, and grew by the day. It was messy and bitter, and by July the government had again U-turned, and the prime minister had been badly damaged.

Failure: the economy. The Labour 2024 manifesto promised not to increase national insurance (NI), VAT or the basic, higher, or additional rates of income tax. But, in her first budget, Reeves raised the employers’ rate of NI in an attempt to raise £24bn to fill a budgetary black hole. She claimed this was not a tax on working people, but the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said it could result in job losses and lower growth. Starmer and Reeves both said growth was the government’s top priority, but in 2025, the OBR also cut its prediction for how much the UK’s economy would swell in 2026 from 1.4% to to 1.1%. In April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it expected the Iran conflict to hit Britain harder than any other advanced economy.

Failure: U-turns. Every prime minister makes U-turns, but Starmer had gained a reputation as the master. As well as about-turns on benefit cuts and winter fuel payments, he also backed down on proposed hikes in inheritance tax for farmers, increasing the threshold for taxing inherited farmland from a planned £1m to £2.5m. Having promised to restore global aid funding to 0.7% of gross national income “as soon as fiscal circumstances allow”, he instead cut development budgets even further to pump more money into defence.

And, having said there would not be a national inquiry into grooming gangs, Starmer then appointed Louise Casey to lead an “audit” into how wide the problem was – a decision that paved the way for the launch of just such an inquiry. Starmer’s government also abandoned plans to delay local elections for 30 councils in England, after officials decided they were likely to lose a legal challenge brought by Nigel Farage.

Failure: the Mandelson affair. Not exactly a policy failure, but certainly a vetting one. Starmer sacked Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US in September, with the government saying the former Labour minister had not disclosed the extent and depth of his friendship with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein when he was appointed. Observers pointed out that links between the two had been covered extensively in the press, notably by the Financial Times. Now the Mandelson affair is the scab that will not heal. In February, it led to the resignation of Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s chief of staff and closest aide. The government was also forced to release documents relating to the appointment via an arcane parliamentary procedure known as a humble address.

Then, in April, a Guardian investigation revealed that Mandelson had been given the role despite him failing to pass vetting procedures. The Foreign Office’s decision to overrule the decision of security officials then led to the departure of the civil servant Olly Robbins.