CONSERVATIVE mayoral candidate for Greater Manchester Sean Anstee has underlined his desire to make Greater Manchester ‘work for everyone’ in the lead up to the election in May.
Conservative mayoral candidate for Greater Manchester Sean Anstee has underlined his desire to make Greater Manchester ‘work for everyone’ in the lead up to the election in May.
“This mayoral election is about doing something different, trying to say we don’t have to have what we’ve always had. It’s not always about the political party which a candidate represents – but what the candidate themselves can do for Greater Manchester” Sean says.
Sean Anstee, who is a Trafford councillor was in Gorton yesterday as he underlined his plans to create a ‘gap-year’ project for students after they finish education, part of his plans to set up a new social action programme.
Anstee also emphasized his plans to bring more investment to Greater Manchester, which since leaving the European Union has been much more questionable for the region.
Creating a more socially and financially independent population was also high of the agenda of the conservative councillor. “I don’t like it when people don’t have control of their own lives. When people are stuck in a rut, and can’t get out of their situation, that’s not great.” Sean says.
Another of Anstee’s main focuses for the region of Greater Manchester is how he could make Greater Manchester’s success, everyone’s success. “We need to make the region as a whole work – and consider the ways in which we can do it.”
Making Greater Manchester work as a system is one of the most important issues for Anstee. “It’s alright to create separate policies for Transport, Education, Healthcare amongst others, but if you can’t make them work all together then there’s not much chance of success.
We've had teams campaigning across Greater Manchester today – thanks for all your support! @GMConservatives #SeanForMayor pic.twitter.com/8YpCjPUmzd
— Sean Anstee (@seananstee) February 18, 2017
“Transport is about getting people to work. In order to get them to work you need to have people investing in the city to create the jobs, in order to create the jobs you need to give people the skills to get into the application process and to get people home to a safe, affordable house you need to be investing into housing – and it’s about bringing them all together. Sean said.
An issue which appears to be commonly misrepresented is environmental issues. Anstee realised this, and when questioned on it, brought up issues regarding building on the green belt.
“One of the things that we need to think about if we’re going to have a spatial plan that says where do new homes go, what we should also think about is our existing communities and how we can work with them.
“A lot of our green spaces are inaccessible, and in poor quality – which is a matter that must be considered when building our new communities.”
When asked about how his first five days would look in charge of Greater Manchester, Anstee was willing to underline the deep rooted issues which are present in Greater Manchester.
I believe that we together, and I as mayor, can reshape our politics in Greater Manchester for the better…forever.#SeanForMayor #GMMayor pic.twitter.com/duNLVADTya
— Sean Anstee (@seananstee) February 20, 2017
“The fact that 45% of our young people leave school not ready to start work is a massive issue. These issues aren’t going away, so I think we have to say that in the first five days, how do you set the tone for a city which is on the up, could do something that is new and bold, and that we make this journey together.” Sean said.
The mayoral election, which takes place on 4 May 2017 will have a range of diverse candidates from all the main parties – and right now the race is wide open.
By Dan Willis
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