As the locks come off it’s important to vote
AS the vaccine rolls out across the country, we will see restrictions gradually lift.
I don’t think there’s anywhere in the UK where this will be more welcome than in Greater Manchester, where we’ve been in local restrictions since July.
There is so much to look forward to – seeing family and friends, going to pubs and restaurants, going on holiday – the list goes on!
Although it might not be the thing you’re looking forward to most, one very important item on that list is voting.
With all of the other important things happening last Spring, many may have missed the local elections being postponed.
This means that May 6 this year will be a bumper election day across Britain, with votes for local councils, mayors, police and crime commissioners, and the Welsh and Scottish Parliaments.
Here in Stockport, a third of the seats will be up for grabs with elections in every single council ward and Andy Burnham is running for re-election as Mayor of Greater Manchester.
With the council elections looming, I think this is a really good opportunity to look back at the last five years of Labour running the borough. This period has seen ground-breaking new models of care introduced, investment in education, the creation of affordable homes through Viaduct, action on the climate emergency and regeneration of the borough, including through the Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation.
This is just a taster of the exciting work that the Labour-led Council has been doing.
This has been all the more impressive for taking place in the context of running a minority administration and with the national Tory Government slashing council funding.
It has taken real grit, determination and creative thinking and shows why Labour should carry on running Stockport.
You may know that I am strongly opposed to the proposed expansion of the Bredbury industrial estate and I still hope that the council will take the action needed to protect the Tame Valley as a green lung for the borough.
However, I’m really looking forward to campaigning – in whatever way is permitted under the Covid restrictions – with colleagues across the borough to keep the Labour administration in place.