Bev Craig is a Labour politician serving as the leader of

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...

, and the

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 Burnage. As leader she is also a member of the

Greater Manchester Combined Authority The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is a combined authority for Greater Manchester, England. It was established on 1 April 2011 and consists of 11 members: 10 indirectly elected members, each a directly elected councillor from one ...

and is the combined authority's portfolio lead for Economy, Business and Inclusive Growth. She is also a founder and co-chair of Open Labour, an activist group for the

soft left The soft left, also known as the open left, inside left and historically as the Tribunite left, is a faction within the British Labour Party. The term "soft left" was coined to distinguish the mainstream left, represented by former leader Michae ...

of the Labour Party. Craig was elected Leader of Manchester City Council by the ruling Labour group of councillors in October 2021, and officially succeeded Richard Leese at a full meeting of the council on his retirement on 1 December 2021.

Biography

Craig is originally from

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and is the city council’s first female and LGBT leader. She grew up on a council estate just outside Belfast and moved to Manchester from Northern Ireland in 2003. She told the BBC, "I grew up in social housing and my family still rely on it. I know the value of

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

the safety net of a good quality home can give you when times are tough", and that she wanted "to reach a point where me being a woman and being gay is entirely uninteresting and unremarkable". She graduated from

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

in 2007 with a degree in politics and modern history and later gaining a postgraduate in Local Government Management from Warwick Business School and a MA in public policy and governance from UoM, both whilst working full time. She has held a range of jobs across local government, higher education and working for the trade union UNISON. Before she was appointed as deputy leader of the council in May 2021, she spent four years as executive member for adult services, health, wellbeing and inclusion. She was also deputy chair of Manchester Health and Care Commissioning and co-chair of the Manchester Local Care Organisation. Craig is a founder and co-chair of Open Labour, an activist group for the

of the Labour Party. Bev is the Leader of the Labour Group and Vice-Chair of the

Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local government in England, local authorities in England and Wales. Its core membership is made up of 317 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the ...

, which supports councillors across England and Wales. She is the Vice-Chair of Greater Manchester Combined Authority and leads on the Economy, Business, and International Portfolio. Previously, she was Chair of Core Cities UK, a network representing the largest cities in the UK outside of London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Bev Living people Labour Party (UK) councillors Councillors in Manchester Leaders of local authorities of England Politicians from Belfast English LGBTQ politicians LGBTQ politicians from Northern Ireland 1985 births 21st-century LGBTQ people from Northern Ireland Women councillors in England Members of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Alumni of the University of Manchester UK councillors 2011–2015