Bev Craig: New Manchester City Council leader makes poverty a top priority

Manchester City Council's first female leader has pledged to tackle inequality and build more affordable homes.

Bev Craig said housing of all kinds, but particularly affordable and social housing, would be a top priority.

Ms Craig, 36, said the housing strategy would be refreshed in order to build more than 7,000 affordable homes.

Taking over from Sir Richard Leese, who is standing down after 25 years, she said she "can't wait to get stuck in" to what she called her "dream job".

Ms Craig, who is also the council's first openly gay leader and has lived in Manchester since 2003, was chosen by Labour in October.

She told BBC Radio Manchester she was "really excited" about her new role.

"Manchester is a confident, ambitious city; it's on the way to being a world-class city," she said.

"I want Manchester to be the best place to live and work.

"Part of that is taking the success and growth we've seen in the city and making sure that all of our residents benefit from that."

Ms Craig added the "big challenges" faced by the city include "tackling inequality and working to eradicate poverty".

"We will be bringing forward some really ambitious and challenging targets, building more than 7,000 affordable homes," she said.

"We will be refreshing the housing strategy to do that.

"There will be more of all kinds of housing but the focus is on affordable and social housing."

She also listed ambitions around inclusivity, tackling climate change and working "hand-in-hand with communities" to solve the problems of the future.

Ms Craig, who played a prominent role in Manchester's response to the Covid pandemic, encouraged people to take the Omicron variant of Covid "seriously" and to wear a mask, while acknowledging the hardship faced by the hospitality sector during the pandemic.

She added: "We want to make sure Manchester people are safe but also that Manchester people have jobs in a functioning economy."