Manchester Mayor elected – despite not being voted in by the public

‘Kris McBurnie seems to speak for many of the voters out and about in central Manchester. “I had no idea we were getting a mayor,” he said. “And I certainly didn’t know he was being appointed today by the council. I would have assumed we would get a chance to vote on it.”

Like many of the shoppers and office workers bustling through the city, the 27-year-old financial services worker is not against the idea of more devolution for the area or even an elected mayor; it’s just that he has never heard of Tony Lloyd, the man who would be anointed by civic leaders later that day to lead the 2.7 million residents of Greater Manchester. There were no hustings or public debates.

Mr Lloyd, who is currently the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner, will now control an £8bn budget and lead a new experiment in city governance. However, there was not a ballot box in sight during his appointment – instead the decision was made by a “selection panel” of 10 civic leaders in a closed-door meeting that has already been described as an “undemocratic stitch-up”. ‘

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