It’s just over five weeks until the people of Greater Manchester elect Andy Burnham’s replacement as mayor of the combined authority (GMCA) area. The Green Party is wasting no time in campaigning before 30 July.
Less than a day after the Makerfield by-election result, the Green Party gathered for what, on paper, was their official candidate announcement. But behind the scenes and away from the screens, the party wheels were in full motion on 20 June at the Manchester Friends (Quaker) Meeting House.
By the time speeches began at 2pm, the Green machine had already cleared out a hall-space full of boxes with their preliminary leaflets. Deliveries had been made to all ten boroughs of Greater Manchester for distribution. At least 60 rounds of leaflets were completed before speeches. And at least one ward, Piccadilly, was completely leafletted by the afternoon — a ward already served by a Green councillor.
Manchester’s Green Party sorts out masses of campaign literature before the big speeches – photo via Cameron Baillie
Coggins for mayor?
None other than Green party leader Zack Polanski announced the Greens’ mayoral candidate, councillor Geraldine Coggins, with much acclaim. It’s clear that Coggins has a lot of confidence around her and a clear platform to distinguish herself from other candidates. Her full manifesto is pending, but there’s lots to like.
Coggins, a veteran Green Party politician, hasserved on Trafford Council since 2018. She was one of the Greens’ first councillors in the area, and serves as the Leader of the Green Party group on the council. She spoke about the history of Irish immigration into Manchester, of which she’s a part.
Coggins has numerous councillor endorsements across Manchester and the wider party. She’s signed the councillor ‘Palestine Pledge’ which includes a commitment to divestment from companies complicit in Israeli crimes. She’s also been outspoken about SEND — special educational needs and disabilities — in schools and in adult social care contexts. These are issues which matter deeply to voters and especially Labour’s base, which Starmer’s Labour repeatedly failed to deliver on. That base is now going Green.
Coggins highlighted the need to reckon with housing affordability and fund social housing as core platform policies in her launch speech. She also plans to tackle the regional inequalities across Manchester which have emerged as a byproduct of the recent centralised development model.
Green candidate Coggins and leader Polanski at the launch – photo via Cameron Baillie
Greens can win again
Green Party sources told the Canarythat the national party campaigns team has taken over and, in essence, that Manchester can expect to see the “kitchen sink” thrown at the mayoral race. From the fact that they spent much of the Burnham by-election planning this, they’re clearly taking it seriously.
One key player in the campaign will be Elfrede Brambley-Crawshaw. She comes fresh from winning big in London’s borough councils — especially Hackney and Lewisham, where Greens won borough mayors. She cut her teeth in years of “beating Tories” in East Anglia’s Suffolk Council before winning in London. Brambley-Crawshaw seemed extremely energised by the challenge of winning across Manchester’s boroughs.
Given that the Greens made their most notable gains across London, and especially in Brambley-Crawshaw’s targeted campaign seats, she’s a smart choice in charge. She spoke to the Canarywith all the passion of an electioneering wonk — a term applied by her husband to their team. Exactly who a serious party needs.
She’s also confident that the voting system, which is marginally more proportional than first-past-the-post, will help Greens win. They already saw the greatest percentage increase in support in recent elections. However, she also notes that boroughs have vastly different populations — one fifth of Greater Manchester lives in Manchester City Council’s remit, for example. But it’s a challenge nonetheless, with Reform making gains in outer boroughs.
At the @TheGreenParty launch of their campaign for the Greater Manchester mayoral election, our reporter @cjmbaillie was one of the first to speak to their candidate Geraldine Coggins – and she’s immediately showing why she’s the right choice to vote for on 30 July
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— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) June 20, 2026
Where are the rivals?
One of those outer boroughs which swung to Reform in May’s council elections was Wigan. However, Reform just lost spectacularly badly there to Andy Burnham, who himself is perhaps Labour’s last hope.
It’s not surprising that the Greens intentionally took a backseat in Makerfield. If anyone can finally dispel the popular illusion that the Labour Party stands for real people-powered, let alone socialist, transformation it’s their most popular politician. When Burnham fails to deliver on his purported principles, Greens win.
Yet so far in Manchester’s mayoral race, it seems that the other parties are nowhere to be seen. Presumably Reform are busy licking their wounds after Makerfield, where they came not even a close second. And clearly Labour politicos are more concerned with a Burnham “betrayal” transition and ensuring the party’s broader survival than focusing on the relatively “small-fry” matter of a mayoralty.
But this is no small prize — the direction of England’s de facto second city could determine the country’s fate before the eventual general election. Polanski is calling it a “two-way race” between Greens and Reform. Greens got ahead with yet another action day on Sunday 21 June, featuring speeches from Coggins and Hannah Spencer MP, a symbolic figurehead of Greens’ possibilities in Manchester.
As of yet, Reform have not announced their candidate nor, as far as we can tell, launched a campaign. The same is true of Labour so far, in the city they controlled almost since living memory. Two-way or not, Greens are certainly first off the mark in this mayoral campaign race. Let’s hope they keep it up.
Green mayor hopeful to save Manchester from ‘Reform disaster’
Featured image via the Green Party
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