Tuesday, October 31, 2006
'We are not New Labour or Old Labour but Manchester Labour'
I'm sad to report that the North West Enquirer has gone into administration, hopefully it can be rescued but it's website is still active and I have found a great article on it which I want to reproduce here as for one thing we don't know how long it's going to be on their website and I think it's worth preserving. It is about Sir Richard Leese who is the Labour leader of Manchester council and Manchester politics in general. Fascinating topics if ever there were.
'We are not New Labour or Old Labour but Manchester Labour'
by Kevin Gopal
_____________________________________
Published on Jul 13 2006
AFTER a decade something’s finally stuck to Richard Leese. The civic leader, who more than any other has managed to dodge public rows and accusations, has been hit – with a knighthood.
Leese became leader of Manchester City Council just weeks before the 1996 IRA bomb attack on the city centre. In the ten years since there’s been the odd spat with the chief constable over police performance and he’s been put on the defensive over Urbis, but, by and large, he’s evaded the controversies that attended another municipal knight, Sir Albert Bore in Birmingham, or Mike Storey, the former Liverpool leader.
Last month came Leese’s knightood, for services to local government. “I’m very pleased,” he says, sitting in his shirtsleeves at the table in his town hall office. “Like anyone else I think the personal recognition is great and I have to say that councillors don’t get it very often. But I got it because of what’s happened in Manchester over the past decade. I wouldn’t deny I played a prominent role but a phrase we use more these days is Team Manchester and it’s recognition of Team Manchester.”
Knighthood
A knighthood probably wasn’t what Leese had in mind when he came to Manchester in the late 1970s. Born and brought up in Mansfield, he graduated from the University of Warwick and worked as a teacher in Coventry and the US before moving to Manchester to take up a post as a youth worker. He came into politics via trade unionism and opposition to Thatcher’s cuts and, inspired by Labour’s swing to the left, became a Crumpsall councillor in 1984. “That swing to the left was certainly a positive thing as far as I was concerned – even if it did make us unelectable.”
At the time, Manchester – led by Graham Stringer – Liverpool, Sheffield and London boroughs such as Lambeth, believed they could take on Thatcherism and win. But Leese draws a contrast between the libertarian tradition of Manchester’s left and the militant-dominated Liverpool and Lambeth. “If the Trots had been dominant I don’t think I would have been involved, at least not to the level I have been.”
Young, idealistic and learning on the job, Manchester’s councillors joined those in the other cities and refused to set a rate in protest against cuts. But they blinked first when central government refused to buckle and when Labour failed to win the 1987 general election there was no plan B. Some councillors walked away from mainstream politics; others, like Leese, stayed, believing that as Labour councillors they continued to have a duty to represent Manchester’s people.
Welfarist approach
“We had to work out a plan B, which I suppose was what now would be described as pragmatic but I think it’s far more analytic than that,” says the holder of a maths degree. The plan was to tackle unemployment and poverty not by a welfarist approach but by getting people into jobs or, if they were in poor jobs, improving their skills.
“Clearly given that local authority and public budgets were in decline the jobs weren’t going to come from the public sector so there’s only one other place – the private sector. If we weren’t going to engage with the private sector we weren’t going to create the employment we believed we needed in Manchester.”
Leese says that approach has created economic growth that in parts of the city outstrips the South East, as well as a growing pride in the city. Together they make Manchester a much better place to live than 20 years ago. But he’s careful to avoid that territory where civic pride becomes civic hubris – there’s no talk of “world-class cities” from him – and he admits that the job is only half done. With unemployment in parts of the city reaching 50 per cent of the working-age population, “there is still a long, long way to go”.
Regeneration
Some see the gulf between the city centre and wealthy suburbs, on one hand, and the poorer parts of Manchester as evidence of a trickle-down approach to urban development that doesn’t really work. But for Leese it’s more a question of timeframes. Manchester’s decline took 75 years. “The idea we can turn it around in just a couple of years is a non-starter. One of the strengths since the early 1990s is to think about regeneration in 15 to 20-year timescales.”
When it comes to regeneration, the council’s chief executive, Sir Howard Bernstein, has a higher profile than its leader. But it’s a mistake to think that means Bernstein holds all the power. He couldn’t operate as he does unless Leese had the self-confidence to give him his leash.
“Howard is a very talented person. We wanted to make sure he could use his talents in particular ways and not get bogged down in the minutiae of the bureaucracy of the council. Our own relationship is on an ad hoc basis. We have no structured meetings. Sometimes we can meet six times a day. Some weeks we might not meet at all but exchange the odd text message or phone call.”
Soundbite
Manchester’s success in regeneration prompted one Labour source recently to call the city a “metaphor for New Labour”. Leese is adamant, in a rare soundbite, that “we are not New Labour or Old Labour but Manchester Labour”. The truth is that Tony Blair needs Leese more than vice versa.
Leese was opposed to the Iraq war and has criticised the government on other matters but says the good outweighs the bad. As evidence he points not only to Labour winning a third term nationally but Manchester Labour picking up seats from the Lib Dems in May’s local elections.
As for the post–Blair landscape, he says it would make no more sense for a new prime minister to kick over Blair’s traces than for Leese himself to have radically changed direction when he took over from Stringer having been his deputy for six years. Instead, he says: “You’ll see a continuation of policy but addressed in a different way – more a change of style than substance, a change of style that I’d sum up as a more inclusive approach.”
Manchester is looking to central government on two major issues. Leese says he is confident that last week’s announcement of funding for Metrolink expansion will be followed up with a successful bid for money from the Transport Innovation Fund, meaning expansion can be delivered in one and not two phases.
London-style assembly
On the forthcoming White Paper on local government, likely to offer more power to city-regions, he calls for an “evolutionary approach” that would build on the co-operation achieved through the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, the grouping of ten councils set up after the abolition of Greater Manchester Council in 1986. That means no new tier of government, no London-style assembly or mayor and certainly nothing involving a referendum, he says.
Leese also insists that tensions between Manchester and the rest of the North West have diminished. He has played a full part in regional politics, supporting elected assemblies – unlike Stringer – when they were on the cards, sitting on the reorganised North West Regional Assembly and chairing its housing board.
But Manchester is where he intends to remain. Aged 55, he has no intention of following Stringer into the Commons or indeed going anywhere else.
“Am I going to go and waste time in Parliament or something like that as a backbencher? Absolutely not.
“Age makes a difference. Graham was ten years younger than me when he went to Parliament. If I was 35 and had been leader then I might think differently. Actually, I don’t think I would.” ¶ 10:49 pm
'We are not New Labour or Old Labour but Manchester Labour'
by Kevin Gopal
_____________________________________
Published on Jul 13 2006
AFTER a decade something’s finally stuck to Richard Leese. The civic leader, who more than any other has managed to dodge public rows and accusations, has been hit – with a knighthood.
Leese became leader of Manchester City Council just weeks before the 1996 IRA bomb attack on the city centre. In the ten years since there’s been the odd spat with the chief constable over police performance and he’s been put on the defensive over Urbis, but, by and large, he’s evaded the controversies that attended another municipal knight, Sir Albert Bore in Birmingham, or Mike Storey, the former Liverpool leader.
Last month came Leese’s knightood, for services to local government. “I’m very pleased,” he says, sitting in his shirtsleeves at the table in his town hall office. “Like anyone else I think the personal recognition is great and I have to say that councillors don’t get it very often. But I got it because of what’s happened in Manchester over the past decade. I wouldn’t deny I played a prominent role but a phrase we use more these days is Team Manchester and it’s recognition of Team Manchester.”
Knighthood
A knighthood probably wasn’t what Leese had in mind when he came to Manchester in the late 1970s. Born and brought up in Mansfield, he graduated from the University of Warwick and worked as a teacher in Coventry and the US before moving to Manchester to take up a post as a youth worker. He came into politics via trade unionism and opposition to Thatcher’s cuts and, inspired by Labour’s swing to the left, became a Crumpsall councillor in 1984. “That swing to the left was certainly a positive thing as far as I was concerned – even if it did make us unelectable.”
At the time, Manchester – led by Graham Stringer – Liverpool, Sheffield and London boroughs such as Lambeth, believed they could take on Thatcherism and win. But Leese draws a contrast between the libertarian tradition of Manchester’s left and the militant-dominated Liverpool and Lambeth. “If the Trots had been dominant I don’t think I would have been involved, at least not to the level I have been.”
Young, idealistic and learning on the job, Manchester’s councillors joined those in the other cities and refused to set a rate in protest against cuts. But they blinked first when central government refused to buckle and when Labour failed to win the 1987 general election there was no plan B. Some councillors walked away from mainstream politics; others, like Leese, stayed, believing that as Labour councillors they continued to have a duty to represent Manchester’s people.
Welfarist approach
“We had to work out a plan B, which I suppose was what now would be described as pragmatic but I think it’s far more analytic than that,” says the holder of a maths degree. The plan was to tackle unemployment and poverty not by a welfarist approach but by getting people into jobs or, if they were in poor jobs, improving their skills.
“Clearly given that local authority and public budgets were in decline the jobs weren’t going to come from the public sector so there’s only one other place – the private sector. If we weren’t going to engage with the private sector we weren’t going to create the employment we believed we needed in Manchester.”
Leese says that approach has created economic growth that in parts of the city outstrips the South East, as well as a growing pride in the city. Together they make Manchester a much better place to live than 20 years ago. But he’s careful to avoid that territory where civic pride becomes civic hubris – there’s no talk of “world-class cities” from him – and he admits that the job is only half done. With unemployment in parts of the city reaching 50 per cent of the working-age population, “there is still a long, long way to go”.
Regeneration
Some see the gulf between the city centre and wealthy suburbs, on one hand, and the poorer parts of Manchester as evidence of a trickle-down approach to urban development that doesn’t really work. But for Leese it’s more a question of timeframes. Manchester’s decline took 75 years. “The idea we can turn it around in just a couple of years is a non-starter. One of the strengths since the early 1990s is to think about regeneration in 15 to 20-year timescales.”
When it comes to regeneration, the council’s chief executive, Sir Howard Bernstein, has a higher profile than its leader. But it’s a mistake to think that means Bernstein holds all the power. He couldn’t operate as he does unless Leese had the self-confidence to give him his leash.
“Howard is a very talented person. We wanted to make sure he could use his talents in particular ways and not get bogged down in the minutiae of the bureaucracy of the council. Our own relationship is on an ad hoc basis. We have no structured meetings. Sometimes we can meet six times a day. Some weeks we might not meet at all but exchange the odd text message or phone call.”
Soundbite
Manchester’s success in regeneration prompted one Labour source recently to call the city a “metaphor for New Labour”. Leese is adamant, in a rare soundbite, that “we are not New Labour or Old Labour but Manchester Labour”. The truth is that Tony Blair needs Leese more than vice versa.
Leese was opposed to the Iraq war and has criticised the government on other matters but says the good outweighs the bad. As evidence he points not only to Labour winning a third term nationally but Manchester Labour picking up seats from the Lib Dems in May’s local elections.
As for the post–Blair landscape, he says it would make no more sense for a new prime minister to kick over Blair’s traces than for Leese himself to have radically changed direction when he took over from Stringer having been his deputy for six years. Instead, he says: “You’ll see a continuation of policy but addressed in a different way – more a change of style than substance, a change of style that I’d sum up as a more inclusive approach.”
Manchester is looking to central government on two major issues. Leese says he is confident that last week’s announcement of funding for Metrolink expansion will be followed up with a successful bid for money from the Transport Innovation Fund, meaning expansion can be delivered in one and not two phases.
London-style assembly
On the forthcoming White Paper on local government, likely to offer more power to city-regions, he calls for an “evolutionary approach” that would build on the co-operation achieved through the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, the grouping of ten councils set up after the abolition of Greater Manchester Council in 1986. That means no new tier of government, no London-style assembly or mayor and certainly nothing involving a referendum, he says.
Leese also insists that tensions between Manchester and the rest of the North West have diminished. He has played a full part in regional politics, supporting elected assemblies – unlike Stringer – when they were on the cards, sitting on the reorganised North West Regional Assembly and chairing its housing board.
But Manchester is where he intends to remain. Aged 55, he has no intention of following Stringer into the Commons or indeed going anywhere else.
“Am I going to go and waste time in Parliament or something like that as a backbencher? Absolutely not.
“Age makes a difference. Graham was ten years younger than me when he went to Parliament. If I was 35 and had been leader then I might think differently. Actually, I don’t think I would.” ¶ 10:49 pm
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Good article. What probably saved Manchester was not the labour council, which good tho it is isn't enough. What Manchester needs more than anything is a labour Government and I don't think that is said enough.
Also, a local party that believes in something as a collective and is prepared to get up at 5:30am to go deliver leaflets in Gorton in the torrential rain. If thats not belief, I don't know what is.
Also, a local party that believes in something as a collective and is prepared to get up at 5:30am to go deliver leaflets in Gorton in the torrential rain. If thats not belief, I don't know what is.
I'm guessing that there are a few people in Gorton who are glad that Leese doesn't want to run for parliament.
Also good point about a Labour government, I can see how much influence Manchester will have under the Tories who wont elect any MP here. Zip.
Also good point about a Labour government, I can see how much influence Manchester will have under the Tories who wont elect any MP here. Zip.
There are a few people in Gorton that just want good leadership and at the moment they've got it. I'm not actually sure that the tories would dare starve us of funding again but you never know.
I think that they would. All those Tory MP's from the south east asking for the funding formula to be rewritten as opposed to how many tory MP's from Manchester?
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