Category: Articles
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Eight barber shops and little “pride in place”
Well, we now have it on record. During the Makerfield by-election campaign, both Andy Burnham (Labour) and Robert Kenyon (Reform) pledged to revitalise the constituency’s high streets. At the Manchester Evening News hustings, Andy Burnham said that success by the end of his term would mean having “revitalised” the town’s high streets. Rob Kenyon, meanwhile,…
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Nazia Rahman: what can we expect from the Council’s new Executive Leader?
Nazia Rahman has been confirmed as Wigan Council’s new Executive Leader, the most powerful role in our local government. Confirmed by her fellow Labour members, who currently constitute 42 of the borough’s 75 elected councillors, Rahman became the first woman, the first ethnic minority representative, and the first foreign-born leader of the council. But what…
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Two years of Josh Simons: what did it amount to?
On the brink of the Makerfield by-election, it is worth considering Josh Simons’ impact as Member of Parliament for the constituency. Parachuted in by the Labour leadership, and with no connections to the constituency, Simons was elected in the 2024 ‘loveless landslide’ for Labour, achieving a respectable 45% of the vote, well above Labour’s 34%…