What is it with Labour city mayors?

I actually find it "rude" that somebody who has been out of the country since the beginning of lockdown has the nerve to comment on Andy Burnham.

Really? How odd! There are some posters on GN who post frequently about all aspects of British politics but don't live in the UK at all but their opinions and comments are welcomed. Why is Urmstongran any different?

Ilovecheese

Just to add that we in Manchester had a referendum to ask whether we wanted a metro mayor. over 60% of us voted NO, we did not want one.
Somehow this was not "the will of the people" and George Osborne imposed a (Tory) mayor upon us. At a subsequent election Andy Burnham won.

The interim Mayor in 2015 was Tony Lloyd (Labour), no Tory Mayor was imposed. Andy Burnham won the first Mayoral election in 2017. Not in my name I hasten to add. The turnout at the vote was only around 500, 000.

The position of metro mayor of Greater Manchester was agreed by George Osborne and the Leaders of the ten metropolitan boroughs of which it was composed. I believe two of the boroughs voted against the appointment of a mayor.
Tony Lloyd, Labour borough Leader, was appointed as interim mayor until the Election of Andy Burnham in 2017.

'Democracy' is actually meant to, in some way, acknowledge the wishes of the minority, too!

But I get your point, ilovecheese

How is over 60% of voters saying NO, and being ignored, "democracy"?
Surely "democracy" means doing what the majority want, not what the minority wanted?

It's known loosely as "democracy ilovecheese

Just to add that we in Manchester had a referendum to ask whether we wanted a metro mayor. over 60% of us voted NO, we did not want one.
Somehow this was not "the will of the people" and George Osborne imposed a (Tory) mayor upon us. At a subsequent election Andy Burnham won.

It’s such a shame isn’t it how power corrupts? Not everyone of course, but some definitely lose their moral compass. I suppose it’s easy to spend other people’s money (taxpayers) with impunity.

There are dodgy ones of every colour. Our former long-term LD council leader was banged up for child porn offences.

I then felt entirely justified for having disliked him intensely.

Fair point Riverwalk.

Alegrias ??

No arrests though for the failed London Garden Bridge project, which cost the public purse £43 million, without a brick being laid.

Criminal or just incompetence - who knows? No one has ever had to answer for it, least of all the mayor at the time, one Boris Johnson.

Bridge

Sadiq Khan had to call a halt before even more public money was spent.

EllanVannin

Carillion was a black-listed company. It wasn't Cameron who brought them in was it ?

I don't know where this statement came from. Carillion was created in 1999 and began growth from there. It grew considerably operating rail repair and PFI contracts and gaining numerous government (by then Tory) contracts. It's financial solidity was questioned in 2017 but the government continued to award contracts eventually it went into liquidation. An enquiry found amongst other things Carillion directors bosses were described by MPs as "fantasists" chasing "a pot of gold",[269] with chairman Philip Green described by Rachel Reeves as having "either a woeful lack of leadership or no grip on reality."[270] The board rejected an October 2017 break-up plan from EY that proposed selling off profitable parts of Carillion and then entering liquidation, a strategy that could have raised £364m, with the pension schemes getting £218m; the board believed they could successfully restructure the group.[271] A 2017 report to Carillion's banks from FTI Consulting said the firm hid mounting problems with "aggressive accounting and working capital management."[272]
Philip Green is of course a huge contributor to the Tory party.

Yes, I do it as well UG. I just don't rely on it, like Trump does, in place of actual facts.....

Just an observation ....

And here was I Alegrias joining in with the vast majority of those who do just that - thinking (erroneously in your view) that it makes posts a tad more interesting.

Ditto the use of emojis. ...
?

There. No italics. No exclamation marks.

Thank you, girls ? It needed saying.

There is a school of thought, made more popular by Trump, that all you have to do is post something online and you are making a serious political point. Showing that you have seen something that the rest of us plebs have missed. Using "inverted commas", italics and exclamation marks takes the place of evidence and facts!!!!

SAD! (that's sarcasm, by the way)

City regions are a construct of politicians, but to the man on the street there is no such thing.

Birmingham is a city, Manchester is a city, but the towns and cities around them are entities in their own right, and attempts to link them together are at best irrelevant, and in reality highly toxic. In my humble.

Andy Burnham is extremely popular throughout Greater Manchester. trisher, his popularity is very high in the wealthier areas.

Urmstongran - I do believe you have scraped the barrel in your OP. Criminal behaviour sadly runs through people of every political persuasion.

petra
??????????

Besides which ...

“Accordingly, the view can be taken that when calculating the 183 days required under the ‘duration of stay’ criterion established by the law on personal income tax, account should not be taken of days which a person was forced to spend in a country as a result of the lockdowns imposed to combat the COVID-19 crisis.”

(aka The State of Emergency)

Jose Maria García-Valdecasas Alloza
Lawyers in Spain

Perhaps we can finally put this to bed now?
We have never in 16y ever stayed longer than 6 weeks at a time and most certainly less than 183 days per year.
Thank you.

Petra ??

? petra

growstuff
You have a problem with someone voicing opinions because they have been out of the country for 9? months.
Do you have a problem with any posters who are resident in another European country constantly telling us where we are going wrong/ what rubbish our politicians are/ how bad our education system is etc etc. Constantly using the words our, we when they don't even live here.

Greater Manchester:

It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the cities of Manchester and Salford.
(Wiki)