New and long-standing members of the Oldham Green Party came together on Sunday to welcome Greater Manchester mayoral candidate Geraldine Coggins ahead of the upcoming elections.
People living in all ten boroughs of Greater Manchester will get to vote on 30 July to decide who should be the region’s mayor. The election was triggered after former mayor Andy Burnham was elected as MP for Makerfield.
Around 30 people gathered at the Crossley Playing Fields in Chadderton. Also in attendance was Mothin Ali, deputy leader of the party.
Following the speeches, attendees canvassed door to door before visiting the European Islamic Centre.
Cllr. Coggins, who was an academic prior to entering politics, has served as a councillor for the past eight years on Trafford Council, four of which she was the leader of the group.
“For a long time, we have known that people believe in what we believe in as Greens,” she said. “People want a fairer world, a cleaner world and a safer world for us to live in now and for our children and grandchildren and future generations.
“In the past, people thought we couldn’t win, but we have shown at the phenomenal local elections and my Trafford colleague Hannah Spencer’s seismic win in Denton and Gorton that the Greens can win.”
She described the prospect of a Reform UK mayor in Greater Manchester as "absolutely horrifying" and said the Greens were the "antidote" to Reform.
Reform UK was contacted for comment.
In the recent local elections, the Green Party took 441 council seats across the country. Under Zack Polanski’s leadership, party membership has grown significantly.
When he became leader in September last year, the party had 68,000 members. Now it has 230,000. A party member said there are around 450 members in Oldham.
Ali, who has served as a Leeds councillor since 2024, said the Green Party is focused on addressing everyday concerns rather than division.
“We have the Reform party who are putting forward more toxicity by attacking communities and trying to break communities apart,” he said.
He said the focus will be on transport, on housing and on tackling the cost of living. The party, he added, will make sure the system works for the benefit of the people who live in Greater Manchester.
He added: “Membership numbers in Oldham have tripled. Every time I come here, the membership is going up and up because people are attracted to what we stand for. We put communities first.”
Among those attending was 18-year-old college student Andrew Jones. He said he supported Coggins because of her transport policies among others.
“She has some great policies including free bus travel for under-22s,” he said. “That means a lot of people like me will be able to get free bus travel throughout Greater Manchester.”
Reform UK announced it will field Sian Astley as its candidate to be mayor of Greater Manchester.
Comments (0)
Comments are moderated before publishing. Links and abusive language are not allowed.
No approved comments yet.