I can be a role model for people who have struggled
Greater Manchester goes to the polls in its first ever mayoral election on May 4. But who exactly are the candidates standing on behalf of the main parties? Political editor Jennifer Williams spoke to the Conservative, Lib Dem, Labour, Ukip and Green hop
THE roots of Jane Brophy’s Liberal Democrat mayoral candidacy go back decades.
Born and brought up in south Manchester – first in Baguley and later Chorlton – Liberal politics were the backdrop to her childhood.
“My parents stood for election as Liberals, so I grew up with my living room full of election leaflets,” she says.
“I do have a childhood memory where my parents just decided they were too busy to do the Liberals any more and I remember as a very young child feeling very disappointed. So I guess then I’ve succeeded where they didn’t. I managed to get myself elected and have been for 17 years.”
Now a Trafford councillor, Brophy didn’t actually sign up as an activist until she was studying for her postgraduate degree in nutrition and dietetics at Leeds University in the 1980s, during the era of the SDP – one she says was an ‘exciting’ time for Liberal politics.
After winning a speaking prize at a political conference Brophy realised it was something she might be quite good at. She was ‘hooked’ from then on, focusing particularly on green issues.
While today more and more people are environmentally conscious taking steps like Brophy herself, who drives an electric car and whose household was the first in Greater Manchester to install a wind turbine – talking to people about climate change back then was a tough sell, she admits. But she remained devoted, campaigning on issues of the day from acid rain to CFC gases in fridges.
“I think because I was from a science background I understood the issue of climate chance and air pollution quite early on,” she says.
“I felt I had a mission to explain to people that these were really serious issues. My main focus has always been health and the environment.” Brophy’s early introduction to politics would later stand her in good stead. In her late 20s she decided to run for the council in Timperley, Trafford, a ward she has now represented for the best part of two decades – coincidentally just down the road from the estate on which Tory rival Sean Anstee grew up. In recent years she has clung onto her seat throughout the political winds that have buffeted the Lib Dems. Brophy admits that going out on the doorstep during the coalition years was a challenge, in which people told her exactly what they thought. “Oh they did,” she says. “But every time I’ve stood for election I’ve always won my seat, so I’m quite used to people telling me what they think on the doorstep. There were a lot of angry people and it gave me the opportunity to understand where they were coming from. I didn’t mind going out and having those challenging conversations.”
Equally, trying to juggle motherhood with politics was even more of a challenge in the 1980s and 1990s than it is today, including dealing with the expectations of others.
“I think there are still struggles, but I think the last couple of decades we’ve seen big changes to people’s attitudes to women in politics,” she says. “People would say to me before I even had any children – which used to annoy me – ‘don’t you think you should have some children first before you get involved in politics?’
“I remained a councillor during two pregnancies and breastfed my baby in Trafford council’s chamber.”
Even her musical past-times have an indirect link to the world of politics. Brophy’s love of jazz clarinet – which she plays at a group in the Cinnamon Club in Altrincham – has parallels, she admits.
“What I like about that is you have to improvise and perform live. I guess it’s a bit like public speaking – even though I’m out of my comfort zone I have to find the notes and play live.” In the background, personal family struggles have coloured her view of what politics could and should be doing, particularly around health, which is also her professional background. One of her sons has both special educational needs and significant medical problems, resulting in prolonged spells in hospital.
“I’ve seen from the frontline what it is like having somebody hospitalised who needs to come home with a significant amount of care and how important that is.
“It’s very hard to get good social care in the current climate. The care system is broken in many places.
“It’s up to us politicians to try and find a way through to fix that for people, because it’s people’s lives. And it’s one reason I’m motivated to be Greater Manchester mayor.”
Trying to cope with family hardship makes her more, not less, likely to be a political leader, in her view.
“Hopefully I’ll be a role model for people in similar situations who struggle with life. Having someone as mayor who has overcome personal struggles is a good thing.”
I’m quite used to people telling me what they think on the doorstep Jane Brophy