Sean Brian Anstee (born July 1987) is formerly an English Conservative Party politician and businessman. He has been the Director of Operations for the

Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority The Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority (DTCCA) is a non-mayoral combined county authority covering the majority of the ceremonial county of Devon. History Since the Local Government Act 1972, the entirety of Devon had been governed by ...

since February 2025. He is Deputy Chair of

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

and was formerly the Leader of the Council on

Trafford council Trafford Council, or Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government service ...

and between 2008 and 2021 was a

Councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

for the Bowdon ward. He is a former Chairman of

Trafford Housing Trust Trafford Housing Trust was a housing association based in Trafford. It was acquired by L&Q in 2019. It owned and managed about 9,000 properties. It also provided care and support for disabled people and ran sheltered housing and extra-care homes ...

and Non-Executive Director of London & Quadrant. He was appointed a CBE in the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

list for services to local government. He stood as the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

candidate for

Mayor of Greater Manchester The mayor of Greater Manchester is the directly elected metro mayor, mayor of Greater Manchester, responsible for strategic governance in the region that includes health, transport, housing, strategic planning, waste management, policing, the G ...

in the 2017 election, achieving 128,752 votes (22.7%) and coming second behind Labour's

Andy Burnham Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017 Greater Manchester mayoral election, 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Brown ministry, Cabinet as Chief Secretary to th ...

. Anstee's official campaign video highlighted his Greater Manchester roots, proudly declaring he was "from here, for here". The slogan aimed to contrast Anstee's local status with Burnham's Liverpool heritage. Anstee grew up on a council estate in

Partington Partington is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It is sited south-west of Manchester city centre. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Ches ...

, and attended Broadoak School, leaving aged 16 to take up an apprenticeship at

Barclays Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

in Timperley. He joined

BNY Mellon The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY, is an American international financial services company headquartered in New York City. It was established in its current form in July 2007 by the merger of the Bank of New York an ...

in 2009. He later graduated from

in 2013 with a degree in business. He represented Bowdon on the council from 2008 to 2021 when he retired. He became leader of the council in February 2014. At age 26, he was the youngest council leader in the UK. Anstee was appointed as Director of Operations for

when the authority was established in February 2025.

References

1987 births Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Conservative Party (UK) councillors Councillors in Trafford English LGBTQ politicians Leaders of local authorities of England Members of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority {{UK-politician-stub